Idealization is a defense mechanism which is usually discussed as part of "splitting." The world is split into good and bad with no place for reality in-between. Many patients split the world into good and bad and apply this to themselves as well. This makes it very difficult for them to tolerate their own problems and mistakes in judgment which increases their resistance to my interpretations and the likelihood of repeating the same dynamic that brought them into therapy. This is one of the reasons therapy takes time.