Intellectualization and its lookalikes

The present paper offers a conceptual review and clarification of the theoretical construct of intellectualization, a popular concept both in the psychoanalytic literature and in the culture at large. It is shown that in the contemporary literature, intellectualization is inconsistently conceptualized. A review of the history of the concept reveals two distinct threads of meaning, which are developed and clarified. Intellectualization can best refer either to a variant of the more basic defense of isolation of affect, or to the psychological translation of emotional issues into intellectual terms. Several clinical misunderstandings of intellectualization are presented in a cautionary light.