By Christophe Herbert, psychologist

Defense Mechanisms: Identify Them, Understand Them, Respect Them

New: £39 instead of £99 today (launch price) 

Training by Christophe Herbert, psychologist (AI-enhanced training)  

CONTINUING EDUCATION: DEFENSE MECHANISMS

Learn to identify, understand, and respect psychic defense mechanisms
with this asynchronous training designed for psychologists in clinical practice.

Defense mechanisms are the unconscious psychological strategies that
we all use to protect ourselves from anxiety, intrapsychic conflict, and
unbearable emotions. This training teaches you how to identify
these defensive processes in your patients and in your professional practice.

COURSE CONTENT

You will explore the theoretical foundations: Anna Freud's concepts and the
modern classification by George Vaillant, which distinguishes primitive,
immature, and mature defenses. We cover the main mechanisms: repression,
projection, identification, splitting, denial, intellectualization, sublimation, and
rationalization.

The training structures the hierarchy of defenses into 4 levels, allowing you
to understand how patients use different strategies according to their
psychological maturation and their clinical context.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

Identify defenses during sessions: recognize the mechanisms at work
during clinical interviews. Understand their origins: analyze how
defenses are built and function psychically. Respect defenses:
adapt your intervention without attacking the patient's adaptive mechanisms.
Work with countertransference: use your own defensive mechanisms as a
clinical tool.

CLINICAL OBJECTIVE

This continuing education course prepares psychologists for a respectful approach to
psychic defenses, moving away from systematic interpretation. You will learn when
and how to work with defenses rather than against them, based on
the patient's psychological maturation and the therapeutic phase.

Available 24/7, entirely online at psy-training.com. Certified continuing
education for professionals.

4 Learning Objectives

• By the end of this training, you will be able to: 

• 1. IDENTIFY the main defense mechanisms (repression, projection,
  splitting, denial, intellectualization) in clinical dynamics and the
  practitioner's countertransference.

  2. ANALYZE the hierarchy of defenses according to Vaillant's classification
  (primitive, immature, neurotic, mature defenses) to adapt your
  therapeutic approach.

  3. RECOGNIZE defenses specific to context (trauma, depression, anxiety)
  and understand their adaptive function for the patient.

  4. RESPECT and WORK WITH defensive mechanisms based on
  psychological maturation, without attacking or over-interpreting them.

FAQ

Q1: What are the main defense mechanisms in clinical psychology?
A1: The main defense mechanisms include: repression (excluding
ideas/feelings from consciousness), projection (attributing one's own
thoughts to others), splitting (separation of opposing representations), denial
(refusal of reality), intellectualization (excessive rationalization),
sublimation (transforming drive energy into a socialized activity), and
rationalization (logical justification of irrational acts).

Q2: What is Vaillant's hierarchy of defenses?
A2: George Vaillant proposes a 4-level classification: primitive defenses
(projection, denial, splitting - before age 5), immature (projective identification,
acting-out - childhood/adolescence), neurotic/evolved (repression,
intellectualization - adult), mature (sublimation, humor, altruism -
optimal development).

Q3: How do you identify defense mechanisms during a clinical session?
A3: Observe emotional inconsistencies, repeated narratives,
resistance to certain topics, non-integrated affects, and countertransference
(what you feel with the patient). Defenses manifest in
narrative style, slips of the tongue, gestures, and emotional tone.

Q4: How do you respect a patient's defenses in psychotherapy?
A4: Adapt your intervention to the maturity level of the defense: primitive defenses
require a structuring containment; mature defenses can
be explored and nuanced. Avoid systematic interpretation; instead work
with rather than against the patient's adaptive mechanisms.

Knowledge validation test (certified training)

This training includes:

Illustrated slideshow videos + Training certificate

Instructor:

Christophe Herbert, Psychologist

Psychologist specializing in psychotherapeutic support for victims and severely bereaved individuals. Director of H4 Publishing

CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE OUTLINE

Module 1 — Introduction: Why focus on defenses today? 

Module 2 — What is a defense? Definition and function

Module 3 — The hierarchy of defenses: levels of functioning

Module 4 — The most common defenses in clinical sessions: how to recognize them

Module 5 — How to identify defenses in the patient's speech and behavior 

Module 6 — Timing: when to interpret a defense, when to leave it alone 

Module 7 — Working with defenses rather than against them 

Who is this for?

This training is reserved for professionals (e.g., psychologists, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, sexologists, psychiatric nurses, etc.) and students in fields such as psychology, psychiatry, etc. Others may inquire at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How to register and access the online course

1) Register for your personal training space and pay the registration fee (invoice available)

2) You will have access to the course (video playback and downloadable documents) in your personal training space.

You can complete the course in multiple sessions. Once registered, access to the course begins whenever you choose. There is no time limit to complete the training. You can contact the instructor with any questions.

3) Complete the knowledge validation test

(a minimum of 70% correct answers is required to obtain a personalized training completion certificate; unlimited attempts. The goal is for you to succeed through the acquisition of your new knowledge).

4) Download the personalized certificate issued under FormationsPsy's letterhead, confirming that you have completed and passed the training.