The role of displacement in psychoanalysis

Displacement is a defense mechanism employed by many other defenses and has a different role from all the other defenses. Locating conflicts in a new situation, displacement attempts to find new solutions. Dis-placement often is a re-placement unless it is part of the repetition-compulsion pattern. The paper explores the technical implications that demand special recognition of displacement beyond the usual analysis of the defenses. References are made to new research in the neurosciences.