Read each of the group member stories and respond to them by identifying each defense mechanism in their stories, and explain why they incorporated each defense mechanism in their stories.

Story One:

The day dawned bright and crisp as the snow swirled on the sidewalk. Melody was walking to school with her friends when a bright red car whipped around the corner ahead and slid on a patch of black ice. The car jumped the curb striking a woman walking a small dog. The woman was knocked into a snow drift, but her dog was crushed. Melody was horrified. Later that day after the parents of the children had conferred on the morning's event, Melody's mother asked her to tell her what had happened. Melody looked at her with confusion as she couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary about walking to school that morning.

Story Two:

There was a loud knock at the front door of the apartment. When Clare opened the door her downstairs neighbor was angrily tapping her foot. The neighbor, apparently suffering from a migraine, had come to complain about the noise her two young children were making as they played tag in the living room. The neighbor's unexpected anger left Clare feeling distraught and upset. After she closed the door, Clare fussed heatedly at her children for playing too loud and causing trouble even though they had done nothing wrong.

Story Three:

Mrs. Brown sat in the waiting room of the clinic where she met regularly with her oncologist. The doctor had told her that her prognosis was grim giving her three months to live, but Mrs. Brown could not bring herself to accept the news. She had always wanted to see Greece and a group of friends was traveling there next summer. Mrs. Brown was thrilled with the prospect of finally seeing the Parthenon and was going to see a travel agent as soon as she left the doctor's office in order to finalize her travel plans. She had the perfect outfit picked out and everything. It would be a glorious summer.