Defense Mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms

Anna Freud, nearly as famous as her father, Sigmund Freud, made her own significant and far-reaching contribution to psychoanalytic theory by exploring the second element of her father's tripartite theory of mind, the ego. The ego houses the conscious sense of self and shapes the power of will and choice in everyday life. Key to Anna Freud's conceptualization of the ego is her elaboration of a series of psychological activities she called ego defense mechanisms. Although Sigmund Freud had originated the idea of the defense mechanism, Anna Freud is generally credited with the full exploration and development of ...