Displacement: Difference between revisions

[[Displacement]]: taking out any impulsive behavior on a less threatening target. The mind redirects difficult or painful emotions from a ‘dangerous’ object to a ‘safe’ object. When we are impulsive to others in this way we treat them as a whipping post for our painful emotions.  

[[Displacement]] (German: Verschiebung, "shift, move") is an unconscious defense mechanism whereby the mind substitutes either a new aim or a new object for goals felt in their original form to be dangerous or unacceptable. Displacement operates in the mind unconsciously, its transference of emotions, ideas, or wishes being most often used to allay anxiety in the face of aggressive, unpleasant or sexual impulses.