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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–6Cite as

Ego Psychology

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Synonyms

Defenses; Ego; Ego functioning; Ego strengths

Definition

Among the founding Freudian analytic theories, ego psychology is the study of the ego as the operating center of the tripartite psyche wherein defensive, adaptive, and coping processes are generated and called upon as resources to address psychopathological and environmental forms of conflict.

Introduction

Ego psychology is an under-discussed clinical theory that will be shown to have significant implications for clinical practice. Often overlooked and even disregarded, ego psychology was among the first theoretical schools to formulate the manner in which individual functioning may lie in the balance between psychopathology and adaptive resources within a larger social environment. Such perspectives on human development are regaining foothold in contemporary discussions of cultural theory and competency as well as the extent to which defensive and adaptive functioning are affected by broader systemic forces such as...

Keywords

  • Personal Resource
  • Adaptive Functioning
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Trauma Survivor
  • Distressing Thought

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. California School for Professional Psychology (CSPP), Alliant International University, San Fransisco, CA, USA

    Graham Danzer

Authors
  1. Graham Danzer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Graham Danzer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. MacQuarie University, North Ryde, Australia

    Simon Boag

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Danzer, G. (2017). Ego Psychology. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1378-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1378-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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