Trauma is our response to a threat that is too much to bear, lasts too long, and comes too soon. A way to protect ourselves against any more threats that overwhelm us is by creating defense mechanisms.

Defense mechanisms can consist of intellectualization, denial, displacement of emotions on to another, minimization of emotions, anger/aggression, and humor to mention a few.

Throughout my years of working with trauma client’s, I have learned that defense mechanisms take gentleness and understanding.

In this week’s vlog, I share three things to consider when working on a client’s defense mechanism in trauma treatment.