“Displacement” – Emotional Roadblock #2

Friday, July 07, 2017 – Day 06: Liberating Ourselves From Emotional Roadblocks, Defense Mechanism #2 “Displacement”

Moving to a close this week dealing with defense mechanisms we are unmasking emotional roadblock #2 “Displacement.” This involves redirecting a negative feeling toward a “safe” target.

While conversing with a man, he shared that his mother was suffering a terminal illness, he was psychologically preparing himself for her demise. Arguably, in this preparation he created emotional blockages that would minimize the pain of her absence; such blockages would likely camouflage a fear of abandonment. How would this play out in his rapports with women? He consistently builds barriers that would inhibit the kind of emotional intimacy that comes through vulnerability.

Should he find himself in a situation where he is feeling vulnerable, his anger may be kindled, as this is a threat to the barriers he has carefully constructed. Exposing vulnerability weakens the emotional walls that he has painstakingly created.

The safest target for this type of reaction would be close relationships with the women he knows will not abandon him, e.g., a wife, friend, sister, girlfriend, mother etc.

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Dr. Valerie Small

Making Things Happen.