This paper attempts to demonstrate that in many instances the associative chains of slips are of secondary importance in their theoretical understanding and clinical management. Clinical material is cited which indicates the relationship of verbal conflicts in slips to the fact that in some cases the very process of slip formation becomes defensively instinctualized and assumes a symbolic discharge value. The material illustrates the manner in which the ego unconsciously can utilize the technique of slip formation for the symbolic expression of oral, anal, phallic, and genital drives and fantasies as well as certain ego identifications and superego demands.

Additional ways in which some slips are unconsciously utilized for symbolic purposes are clinically demonstrated through study of the total form of slips and the reactions to them. It is clinically shown that both the creation of a slip and its immediate repression were unconsciously intended by one patient because of the symbolic