The 12 Most Common Defense Mechanisms

Displacement

This type of ego defense mechanism is also commonly used. Displacement is characterized by a person taking out his or her impulses on a less threatening target, presumably a target that has the lesser tendency to retaliate. It’s technically healthier than denial because it gives an avenue for the emotions to be voiced out, even if to a lesser degree. A great example of this is when a person is angry at someone, and that person cannot take his anger out on that person (maybe a boss or a relative, for example) he instead takes his anger out on the door when he slams it shut.

In the field of counseling this is called transference. This happens when a counselee, consciously or unconsciously, takes out his or her emotions out on his or her counselor. This happens with either positive or negative energy, like anger or love for example. And when the counselee reciprocates the emotion, this is called counter-transference.