The id, ego, and superego keep the person in balance between satisfying every primal want and bowing to societal pressures. And the two concepts of transference and countertransference reveal that all clients have a past and are attempting to frame their reality in ways that are safe and familiar.

The use of defense mechanisms is necessary for all humans to emotionally adjust to their environment. The psychoanalytic theory from Sigmund Freud provides a foundation to understand psychiatric problems.

transference — unconscious feeling the client has toward another or the health-care worker that is originally based on a past experience with an important person in their life. id — part of the mind that is the most primitive, it drives the instincts, reflexes, and needs. past and — attempting to frame their reality in ways that are safe and familiar. defense mechanism — thought, words, or behavior prompted by the unconscious mind; can reduce anxiety in the short-term; may result in ineffective coping if used longer term.