Texas A&M University (TAMU) Commerce Social Work (SW) Comprehensive Clinical Practice Test

In ego psychology, the ego uses defense mechanisms to manage anxiety and preserve a coherent sense of self. When someone seeks help, part of the motive can operate unconsciously to protect the ego from uncomfortable feelings or impulses.

Keeping unconscious desires from consciousness is repression, an unconscious process that prevents distressing thoughts or urges from entering awareness. Seeking help can serve this purpose by helping the person avoid facing those impulses, thereby reducing anxiety.

The other options describe conscious aims: seeking self-awareness is about consciously pursuing insight; expressing conscious goals is about explicit, planned objectives; seeking external validation involves a wish for approval that is typically more overt and social in nature. While those can influence behavior, they don’t capture the unconscious mechanism of keeping desires out of awareness as the primary motive.