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Identifying Psychotic Defenses in a Clinical Interview
Author(s) -
Berney Sylvie,
Roten Yves,
Beretta Véronique,
Kramer Ueli,
Despland JeanNicolas
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22087
Subject(s) - psychology , clinical psychology , psychoanalysis , psychotherapist , developmental psychology
The Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales (DMRS), one of the most widely used and validated instruments in the study of defense mechanisms, does not include psychotic defenses. The Psychotic‐DMRS (P‐DMRS) has been developed to include 6 psychotic defense mechanisms: psychotic denial, autistic withdrawal, distortion, delusional projection, fragmentation, and concretization. We discuss psychotic defenses, including the difference between psychotic defenses and psychotic symptoms. Six clinical illustrations demonstrate how the 6 P‐DMRS defenses can be identified in patients’ narratives selected from the transcripts of dynamic interviews. Implications with respect to patient evaluation and treatment are discussed.