Abstract
The Defense Mechanism Rating Scales (DMRS), fifth edition, is a system for guiding clinical inference in the identification of specific defense mech-anisms (Perry, 1990a). The author (JCP), created the first version in 1981 and revised it based on subsequent studies. The most recent, fifth edition included editorial suggestions by other members of the Subcommittee on Defense Mechanisms (reporting to the Multiaxial Committee of the Task Force for DSM-IV of the American Psychiatric Association), including Drs. Michael Bond, Steven H. Cooper, Marianne E. Kardos, and George E. Vaillant. The DMRS has benefited from the perspective and consensus of these researchers on definitions, functions, and examples of individual defenses. This chapter reviews issues pertinent to studying defenses in psychotherapy sessions. It describes the DMRS rating procedures and reliability, suggests an optimal program for selecting and training raters, and offers a discussion of the implications of using different data sources. The chapter ends with a brief discussion of the potential value of studying defenses in psychotherapy. The Reference section constitutes a biblio-graphy of the DMRS.
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References
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© 1993 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Perry, J.C., Kardos, M.E., Pagano, C.J. (1993). The Study of Defenses in Psychotherapy Using the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales (DMRS). In: Hentschel, U., Smith, G.J.W., Ehlers, W., Draguns, J.G. (eds) The Concept of Defense Mechanisms in Contemporary Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8303-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8303-1_8
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