During a counseling session, a client recalls having been abused as a child. The inability to recall the abuse earlier is an example of which defense mechanism?

The situation described involves a client who has an inability to recall previous experiences of abuse, which is a classic example of repression. Repression is a defense mechanism where unpleasant or traumatic memories, thoughts, or feelings are unconsciously blocked from awareness. This can happen as a way to protect the individual from the psychological distress that such memories might bring. In this case, the absence of recollection of the childhood abuse indicates that the client’s mind has pushed that painful memory out of conscious awareness, demonstrating how repression functions to shield the individual from emotional discomfort.

The other options, while relating to different defense mechanisms, do not accurately fit the scenario. Denial involves rejecting the reality of a situation, projection attributes one’s own unacceptable feelings to others, and displacement involves shifting feelings from one person or situation to another. None of these mechanisms involve the unconscious forgetting characteristic of repression.