The speaker provided a clinician-focused exploration of sublimation, defining it as an ego-driven transformation of instinctual energy (originally sexual, later including aggression) into socially valued, non-instinctual activities through mechanisms like aim inhibition and fantasy. He emphasized sublimation’s developmental, cultural, and ethical dimensions—its role in creativity and normal functioning, its limits and risks when overapplied, and contrasts between Freud’s and Lacan’s accounts. Finally, he argued that sublimation underpins the false self in narcissism, enabling socially acceptable behavior despite underlying pathology. What is Sublimation? Duty and Beast