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Learning to Recognize Ego Defense Mechanisms: Results of a Structured Teaching Experience for Psychiatric Residents

Received December 14, 2004; revised March 16, 2005; accepted March 29, 2005. Dr. Beresford is Professor of Psychiatry, Mental Health Service, VA Medical Center (116), 1055 Clermont St., Denver, Colorado and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado. Address correspondence to Dr. Beresford, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (116), 1055 Clermont St., Denver, CO 80220-0116; thomas.beresford{at}uchsc.edu (E-mail). Copyright © 2005 Academic Psychiatry.

OBJECTIVE: Ego defense mechanism (EDM) recognition can offer a powerful and practical tool in clinical psychiatry. However, recognition skill learning can be difficult to assess and may account for the lack of formal EDM recognition training in residency courses. METHOD: This study hypothesized that mean test scores would increase significantly over 8 weeks in a course on practical EDM recognition. Second-year residents from two successive classes (n=25) were tested in the first and the last course sessions using a 10-item, multiple-choice test. Correct answer mean scores were compared using Student’s t test. RESULTS: Test scores demonstrated an increase in the mean percentage of correct answers between the two time points: 54% versus 82%. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that clinical EDM recognition can be systematically taught and that learning can be measured appropriately.

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