Ego Functions Research Articles

Ego boundaries and self-esteem: Two elusive facets of the psyche of performing musicians

This article presents a heuristic inquiry into ego boundary development and functioning in aspiring musicians. In their role as communicators in society, challenging and stretching existing boundaries form an integral aspect of the work of artists. This has an impact on ego boundary functioning. The relevance of both aspiring musicians and their mentors understanding psychodynamic processes at work in musical relations is explained, and implications of technological advancements briefly highlighted. The article shows how Alice Miller’s definition of self-esteem – as being based on the authenticity of one’s own feelings and not on the possession of certain qualities – is narrowly related to ego boundary functioning. The processes involved in ego boundary formation, the development of self and the development of musical identity are shown to be closely related, also neurologically, and a mutual interrelationship between self-esteem, identity and the effectiveness of musical communication was discovered. Writers who portray ego boundary thickness as existing along a continuum are referred to, and possible implications for pathology in musicians are briefly highlighted. The article illustrates that great pedagogues have an intuitive grasp of the importance of these concepts; it makes suggestions for future research and highlights the need for developing a measuring instrument.

The Ego Functions as an Addictive “Energy Vampire”, in Contrast to How Our Real Being Functions as a Limitlessly Abundant “Energy-Giver”

The more that we identify with the selfish ego, and, therefore, try to fill an illusory, experienced sense of inner emptiness, lack of wellbeing, or presumed deficiency of being, by functioning like an “energy-vampire”, narcissistically, excessively, abusively, feeding off of the energy of others, like a voracious parasite or devouring predator, or feeding off of the energy of addictive, unwholesome, toxic, substances and sensations, the more inwardly empty, deficient, and insubstantial we feel, because trying to incorporate energy, vitality, or any other desired experiential states from outside of our own being, reflects a mistaken presumptive conviction of limited scarcity, inner deficiency, lack of wholeness, lack of wellbeing, inertia or lack of energy, etc.

Further evidence of self-medication: personality factors influencing drug choice in substance use disorders.

According to Khantzian's (2003) self-medication hypothesis (SMH), substance dependence is a compensatory means to modulate affects and self-soothe in response to distressing psychological states. Khantzian asserts: (1) Drugs become addicting because they have the power to alleviate, remove, or change human psychological suffering, and (2) There is a considerable degree of specificity in a person's choice of drugs because of unique psychological and physiological effects. The SMH has received criticism for its variable empirical support, particularly in terms of the drug-specificity aspect of Khantzian's hypothesis. We posit that previous empirical examinations of the SMH have been compromised by methodological limitations. Also, more recent findings supporting the SMH have yet to be replicated. Addressing previous limitations to the research, this project tested this theory in a treatment sample of treatment-seeking individuals with substance dependence (N = 304), using more heterogeneous, personality-driven measures that are theory-congruent. Using an algorithm based on medical records, individuals were reliably classified as being addicted to a depressant, stimulant, or opiate by two independent raters. Theory-based a priori predictions were that the three groups would exhibit differences in personality characteristics and emotional-regulation strategies. Specifically, our hypotheses entailed that when compared against each other: (1) Individuals with a central nervous system (CNS) depressant as drug of choice (DOC) will exhibit defenses of repression, over-controlling anger, and emotional inhibition to avoid acknowledging their depression; (2) Individuals with an opiate as DOC will exhibit higher levels of aggression, hostility, depression, and trauma, greater deficits in ego functioning, and externalizing/antisocial behavior connected to their use; and (3) Individuals with a stimulant as DOC will experience anhedonia, paranoia, have a propensity to mania, and display lower levels of emotional inhibition. MANOVAs were used to test three hypotheses regarding drug group differences on the personality variables that were in keeping with the SMH. The MANOVAs for Hypothesis I (Depressant group) and Hypothesis II (Opiate group) were statistically significant. Findings partially support the SMH, particularly in its characterization of personality functioning in those addicted to depressants and opiates.

Working with religious Muslim clients: A dynamic, Qura’nic-based model of psychotherapy.

This article draws on the tenets of a Qura’nic theory of personality that has been recently developed (Abu-Raiya, 2012, 2014) to suggest a dynamic, conflict-based model of psychotherapy that can be utilized when working with religious Muslim clients. This model posits that the human psyche is composed of several structures that represent both satanic and divine sides of humans, and that the foundational conflict operating within the human psyche is between its satanic structures and their divine counterparts. Psychotherapy based on this model aims to uncover the nuances of the posited conflict, reduce anxiety associated with the conflict, and tame the satanic sides of the psyche by strengthening ego functioning and nurturing spiritual life. This type of psychotherapy should be applied by dynamically oriented, spirituality sensitive psychotherapists who are knowledgeable about the major Islamic tenets. It is appropriate for clients who are motivated, insight-oriented, and above all, accepting of the Qura’n as the main authority when it comes to significant psychological and human concerns. This model is brought to life in a case study. The article concludes by pointing to the prospects for the model and the challenges psychotherapists might face in applying it.

Armed Victims: The Ego Function of Second Amendment Rhetoric

On June 10, 2014, Emilio Hoffman was shot and killed in a gym locker room and a teacher was wounded in a Troutdale, Oregon school. The shooter killed himself after a shootout with police. Two days earlier, a couple shot two police officers at point blank range in a restaurant, covered one of them with a Gadsden flag and a swastika, and then later killed an armed civilian who tried to stop them in a Walmart. They died by their own hands. On June 5, 2014, a gunman at Seattle Pacific University shot one student and injured two others before being stopped with pepper spray and disarmed by a student. This came on the heels of another shooting in May in Isla Vista, California, where a man stabbed his three roommates to death, shot and killed three others, and injured 13 others—eight by gunshot and four by hitting them with his car. He died by his own hand. Similar incidents have received widespread attention: Newtown, Connecticut; Virginia Tech; and Fort Hood stand out in recent memory because of their coverage by the mass media. However, these events represent only a small fraction of gun violence in the United States. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence reports that “on average, 32 Americans are murdered with guns every day and 140 are treated for a gun assault in an emergency room.” As was the case in the killings at ThurstonHigh School, ColumbineHigh School, and Virginia Tech, many expected stronger gun control legislation

Personality functioning in people living with HIV

This investigation adopted a multiple case study approach to determine the personality functioning in people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLWHA). Participants comprised a convenience sample of four PLWHA (male = 3, female = 1). The majority of the participants were white (n = 3) and one was black African. Only one participant was married at the time of participation. Data on aspects such as their suicidal ideation, affect, problem solving styles, ego functioning, self-perception, and interpersonal functioning were collected using the Rorschach inkblot test and clinical interview. The data were actuarially analysed and organised under themes, namely; dominant personality style, capacity for control and stress, situational related stress, affect, interpersonal relations and self-perception. Findings revealed that participants had high levels of potential mood disorders and interpersonal difficulties for which targeted psychological services may be needed.

IQ and Defense Mechanisms Assessed with the TAT

Abstract. The concept of defense mechanism has a long history in psychoanalysis and clinical psychopathology. The function of defenses has been modified over the years, from a counter-force against instincts to the protection of self-esteem. To understand the role of defenses in pathological and normal development, a coding method to use with Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories – the Defense Mechanism Manual ( Cramer, 1991a ) – has been developed and validated. Three broad defenses – Denial, Projection, and Identification – may be coded with this method. The article presents examples of TAT stories that have been coded for defense use. These show how defense use changes after a period of psychotherapy, and how defenses change with age. Evidence for reliability and validity is provided, both from correlational and experimental studies. The remainder of the paper focuses on the relation between the use of defense mechanisms and intelligence. Research has shown that the two ego functions of defense and IQ are not correlated in childhood and adolescence, but are correlated in adulthood defenses and IQ. Importantly, IQ serves as a moderator for the effect of defense use on variables such as psychiatric symptom change, level of Ego Development, and Big Five personality traits.

Coercion as part of a psychoanalytically based therapy: Case report on the treatment of a forensic outpatient

This paper presents the four-year forensic outpatient treatment of a male patient in his mid-30s who was diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder and had previously been held on unlimited detention due to several assaults. At the beginning, several coercive measures had to be taken. Over time, both the therapeutic alliance and the patient's psychic structure improved remarkably. The patient explained at the end of therapy that, despite being forced into treatment, he also felt recognized and held while he had been in deep distress. Several explanations of how coercion and the therapeutic process may correlate are discussed: essentially, the complex and dialectical relationships between inner and outer reality, therapeutic space, and social structures are reflected. Cautiously but consistently introducing outer reality as well as validating the patient's realistic perceptions contributed to strengthening his ego functions.

The I-BAR protein Ivy1 is an effector of the Rab7 GTPase Ypt7 involved in vacuole membrane homeostasis.

Membrane fusion at the vacuole depends on a conserved machinery that includes SNAREs, the Rab7 homolog Ypt7 and its effector HOPS. Here, we demonstrate that Ypt7 has an unexpected additional function by controlling membrane homeostasis and nutrient-dependent signaling on the vacuole surface. We show that Ivy1, the yeast homolog of mammalian missing-in-metastasis (MIM), is a vacuolar effector of Ypt7-GTP and interacts with the EGO/ragulator complex, an activator of the target of rapamycin kinase complex 1 (TORC1) on vacuoles. Loss of Ivy1 does not affect EGO vacuolar localization and function. In combination with the deletion of individual subunits of the V-ATPase, however, we observed reduced TORC1 activity and massive enlargement of the vacuole surface. Consistent with this, Ivy1 localizes to invaginations at the vacuole surface and on liposomes in a phosphoinositide- and Ypt7-GTP-controlled manner, which suggests a role in microautophagy. Our data, thus, reveal that Ivy1 is a novel regulator of vacuole membrane homeostasis with connections to TORC1 signaling.

A Study on the Psychometric Properties of the Fairy Tale Test (FTT)

The Fairy Tale Test (FTT) is a projective personality measure that provides a comprehensive evaluation of the child’s personality. The test consists of 21 cards that depict popular fairy tale characters that are administered in sets of three. Having three versions of the same character allows the child to project different aspects of self and activates the emergence of several defense mechanisms such as undoing, reaction formation, and splitting. The test is administered in the form of a semi-structured interview. Children’s responses are interpreted in a quantitative and qualitative way. Quantitative interpretation includes the rating of 30 personality variables on a 1–3 scale, while qualitative evaluation consists of the analysis of ego functions and the nature of anxiety. The FTT was standardized in Greece on a sample of 873 nonclinical children. The construct validity was examined through the application of factor analyses that led to the formation of 13 first-order and 5 second-order factors. Criterion validity included the comparison of the FTT factors with those derived from the AQ, the BYI, and the CBCL. The results confirmed the dichotomy of reactive and proactive aggression and disclosed their association with victims and bullies.

Orientations of psychotic activity in defensive pathological organizations

The author reviews some clinical experiences of the treatment of personality disordered patients suffering from internal domination of ego functioning by a defensive pathological organization. In particular, the function and purpose of perverse, sadistic attacks by the organization on the ego are considered and questions pertaining to technique are raised. It is suggested that different forms of sadistic, subjugating activity by pathological organizations may denote differences in intent borne of the type and severity of the psychopathology of the individual. Patients with severe narcissistic psychopathology for whom object contact has become associated with the arousal of intense psychotic anxieties seem more likely to be subjected to an invasive, annihilatory imperative by the pathological organization, the purpose of which appears to be to obliterate the experience of contact with any differentiated object, to avoid emotion and to use coercion to enforce a primitive identification by the ego with the psychotic organization in the mind. Certain patients with less severe narcissistic psychopathology, yet for whom object contact can also be associated with the arousal of psychotic anxieties due to intense or persistent conflict with the object, sometimes expressed as organized sadomasochistic clinging to a punishing and punished object (for example, in certain borderline or depressed patients) exhibit sadistic attacks that serve less to annihilate object contact and more to intrusively control and punish the object. Observations of these phenomena have been made by a number of psychoanalysts in recent decades and these contributions are discussed. This paper is addressed primarily to the implications for technique with such patients, particularly a need for triangulation of their experiences of oppression in order to loosen the controls over the ego by the pathological organization.

Silence as the voice of trauma.

Silence is a key to the unspoken world of the patient. Rather than interpreting silence as a defensive maneuver, the analyst may understand this disruption as a royal road to the patient's traumatic experiences. The author proposes to recognize traumatic silences in the analytic process and the transference as a re-experiencing of past, unpredictable traumatic affective states and memories. Silences in this context are both a repeat of a disconnecting experience as well as a manifestation of a silencing identification with the original silencer. The clinical material illustrates effects of a German mother's World War II (WWII) personal traumata and collective shame-based silence on her daughter's self and good object development. In the daughter's analysis, the patient and the analyst, who herself experienced similar WWII traumata, face the pain of trauma recovery and un-silencing. The author suggests that the deadening effect of past traumata may be reversed by an analytic process of re-membering and re-speaking for both the patient and analyst. This allows for a more transparent, subjective experience in the transference and a verbal integration of ego functions.

Psychopathological symptoms as a function of trauma, dreams, and inhibitions.

This study investigates the cumulative effects of lifetime traumatization on dream activities and the extent to which potentially traumatic events, dream variables, and inhibitory functions can predict the severities of psychopathological symptoms. The sample consisted of 564 young adults, whose dream experiences, trauma history, ego functions, and symptom manifestations were assessed using the Dream Intensity Scale, Dream Motif Scale, Traumatic Experiences Checklist, and Ko’s Mental Health Questionnaires, respectively. The 2 dream scales profile an individual’s phenomenological experience of dream activities by retrospectively quantifying some typical dream themes—such as being pursued and encountering a person whom is desired— and variables indicative of subjective dream intensity, for example, nightmare frequency, lucid dreaming frequency, and confusion between real and dreamed events. The overall results suggest that psychopathological symptoms can be predicted positively by emotional trauma, accumulated traumatic experiences, thematic dream content, and sexual suppression (resistance against activity, material, or conversation relating to sex) and negatively by repressive defensiveness (denial of negative attributes) and counterdependence (active resistance against relying on other people) with impressive effect sizes.

Psyche—the Meeting of Mind and Soul

The author presents an overview of two contemporary, related psychoanalytic perspectives on religious phenomena. Based on data from systematic interviews, Ana-Maria Rizzuto explores the way the human mind forms the idea of God as it evolves through the various stages of childhood and adult development. The object-representation of God is greatly influenced by the mental representations of mother, father, and other important adults in the child's life. Object relations theory and the writings of Winnicott play an important role in these concepts. William Meissner, a Jesuit priest as well as a psychoanalyst, addresses Freud's views of religious belief as an illusion, or when accepted with certainty as real, as a delusion. Instead, Meissner sees religious belief as a developmental process that resides in the mental realm of transitional phenomena where spirituality, creativity, appreciation of beauty, transcendental states, play, and the psychoanalytic process itself also take place. In psychoanalytic treatment, religious phenomena are not exempt from exploration and understanding, perhaps resulting in more mature development of object representations, ego functions, and the superego functions of conscience and ego ideal as well as more mature religious life.

Ego Psychological Contributions to Understanding Psychopharmacology and Clinical Practice in Social Work Education

Due to increasing evidence that supports the efficacy of combined pharmacology and psychotherapy in the treatment of multiple psychiatric disorders, an educational focus on integrated approaches is growing in social work and related fields. However, there are few guiding clinical theoretical models that can help students integrate pharmacology and clinical issues. The authors propose that ego psychology can advance clinical knowledge by helping students understand pharmacological issues and integrate pharmacotherapy with psychotherapy. Assessing ego functions in response to medication referral and use contributes to enhanced assessment and treatment.

Toward The Integration of Neuroscience and Clinical Social Work

This article reviews recent findings in neuroscience in light of the history of social work, the scientific support for clinical social work interventions and the challenges of integrating neuroscience into academic and practice settings. Illustrations of several critical neurophysiological underpinnings of important clinical phenomena are described, including disorders of personality, defense mechanisms, attachment styles and the close relationship between ego functions and right hemisphere functions.

Modelos Recursivos de Índice de Masa Corporal con Variables Sociodemográficas, Funciones del Yo y Alteración Alimentaria en Mujeres Mexicanas

The objective of the study was to generate recursive models to predict the body mass index (BMI) in Mexican women, including socio-demographic variables, ego functions and eating alteration aspects. The Ego Functions Assessment (EFA; Bellak & Goldsmith, 1993) and the Overeating Questionnaire (OQ; O'Donnell & Warren, 2007) were applied to a quota sample of the BMI of 217 women aged 20- 40 residing in Nuevo León. Three models with a good fit to data were defined. In the most complex model higher BMI is predicted by lower socioeconomic status, older age and excessive eating. A higher BMI is a predictor of motivation to lose weight and body image dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction with body image predicts motivation to lose weight. Worse health habits predict lower motivation to lose weight, greater body dissatisfaction, and excessive eating. Affective disorder predicts body image dissatisfaction and excessive eating. Based on these models, suggestions are formulated to understand overweight and obesity.

Ego function of morality and developing tensions that are “within”

We applaud Baumard et al.’s mutualistic account of morality but detect circularity in their articulation of how morality emerged. Contra the authors, we propose that mutualism might account for a sensitivity to convention (the ways things are done within a group) rather than for a sense of fairness. An ontogenetic perspective better captures the complexity of what it means to be moral.

Personal factors of burnout syndrome in teachers in the framework of self-determination theory

Teachers perform numerous professional roles that can serve as the source of prolonged stress and lead to the occurrence of burnout syndrome. This research was aimed at studying the personal factors of burnout, using self-determination theory as a starting point. We used a sample of 200 teachers to study the following: the level of satisfaction of basic psychological needs at work, the prominence of self-orientations and the presence of burnout syndrome. We also studied whether these variables were significant burnout predictors, as well as whether there was a difference in the pattern of personal burnout predictors in primary school and university teachers. The following instruments were used: the scale of satisfaction of basic psychological needs at work, the ego function questionnaire, the scale of burnout syndrome in teachers. The results point to a relatively moderate satisfaction of all psychological needs, a higher level of integrated self-regulation as well as the medium presence of ego-invested and impersonal orientations. On the whole, teachers showed low burnout. Significant burnout predictors include an integrated self and the need for autonomy (university teachers) and an impersonal self (primary school teachers). This implies that teachers whose psychological needs are satisfied and who have an integrated self are less susceptible to burnout. The findings are discussed from the viewpoint of the self-determination theory, their educational implications and the possibility of preventing work burnout in education workers.

The Function of Suffering as Portrayed in The Scarlet Letter and Reflected in Clinical Work

Suffering is commonly seen as an unconscious effort to alleviate painful feelings of guilt. However, suffering also aims at averting loss of ego functions and hence loss of mental stability. This second function of suffering is discussed in the light of Freud's observations of characters wrecked by success and Weiss's ideas about mutual love as a threat to mental stability. Hawthorne's portrayal of Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter (1850), biographical material about the author, material from his diaries, and material from a psychotherapy case and an analysis illustrate the function of suffering to preserve mental stability in the face of heightened success and happiness. Hawthorne, it is argued, intuitively grasped this function of suffering in his novel.