Defense Mechanisms Addiction Worksheet
By
HappierTherapy
Author bio
The Happier Therapy editorial team is made up of Masters and PhD counselling psychologists. Each worksheet is created by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The worksheet then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
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What is the theory behind this Defense Mechanisms Addiction Worksheet?
Defense Mechanisms are all those mental and emotional strategies that people turn to in order to cope with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings or traumatic events. Some may use them temporarily as a healthy coping strategy while others come to rely on them too much, eventually distorting their actual reality instead of coming to terms with their difficult emotional state. It is crucial to determine the defense mechanisms that people who are seeking help for substance abuse rely on because they may very well be helping them maintain their addiction.
How will the worksheet help?
The worksheet can help therapists keep a record of their client’s statements and behaviors that indicate the use of a specific defense mechanism. They can use this worksheet over the course of their treatment to keep track of which defense mechanisms were identified so that treatment can be tailored accordingly.
How to use the worksheet?
This worksheet can be used by therapists for clients seeking help for substance addiction. They can use it to keep a record specifically of all the client’s statements and behaviors that indicate the use of a specific defense mechanism. They can also use it to take further notes particularly on their use of various defense mechanisms so that treatment can be tailored accordingly.