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Chris DeAdana
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May 11, 2026
266: Understanding Mature Defense Mechanisms in Psychotherapy: Nancy McWilliams Framework with Clinical Examples from the Tuesday Cohort
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77:00David PuderHOST
Okay, what about reaction formation? Chris, talk to us about reaction formation.
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77:07Chris DeAdanaGUEST
Well, reaction formation is when someone is dealing with an emotion unconsciously that might feel threatening to their self-image or to an important relationship, and they turn it into the opposite feeling, right? So probably like a classic example would be someone ha- harboring a lot of anger and resentment towards a coworker, right? Kind of undealt with, disavowed underneath the surface.
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77:37Chris DeAdanaGUEST
But on the surface it looks, um, extremely kind, like overly accommodating, right? So almost to the point where it feels fake.
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77:48Chris DeAdanaGUEST
I was even thinking about, you know, a, a recent client that I had and just the...
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77:56Chris DeAdanaGUEST
That when they first came in, they were describing their marriage, right? And it almost seemed too good to be true, right? It's like everything they said about their spouse wa- e- everything was perfect, right? And so it put me in a weird position where I'm thinking like, "This doesn't seem...
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78:10Chris DeAdanaGUEST
Something doesn't feel right here," right? So this is like the classic, um, alarm that reaction formation is present when things just feel too good to be true.
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79:10David PuderHOST
It can swing the other direction sometimes, right? Where it can go from hundred percent love to a hundred percent hate.