“If she didn’t say that I wouldn’t have hit her.” “If he didn’t cut me off I would never have chased after him!” “My father is to blame for my problems with anger.” These are just a few examples of ...

Displacement is a defense mechanism, a coping strategy that entails a disavowal of thoughts, feelings, or impulses that we view as being inconsistent with and unacceptable to our sense of self.

Anger is the kind of feeling people try to tamp down, out of fear that it will ignite and explode. Pretending your anger doesn't exist causes it to compress itself, making a home in the small space of ...