ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the ego's functioning as a mental agency for emotional regulation. The consolidation of the ego during the anal stage draws on the oral parental auxiliary ego. From the topographical point of view, the ego operates as a negotiator between inner-life needs and external reality requirements. From the dynamic point of view, the ego mobilises adaptation mechanisms for adaptation of the self to reality, which throughout life enhances the psychomotor, cognitive, and emotional aspects of psychic intelligence potential. From the anal stage onward, the individual's ego and its principles of emotional regulation have a significant impact on his choices and decisions. Internalisation may be conceived as the ego's psychological absorption, digestion, and integration of the inputs from the outside into the inside, providing "building blocks" for the rudimentary ego and the foundation for its consolidation. With the development of verbal language, the toddler's dreams are loaded with emotional content.
