The focus of the work is the relationship between object relations and defense mechanisms. Both are central concepts in all psychoanalytic schools, but empirical studies on this topic have been scarcely published so far. The study examines the self and parental images, as well as defense mechanisms of 46 female patients and their changes under inpatient analytically oriented psychotherapy. Different patterns of self, mother, and father images, as well as specific defense mechanisms, are found in cases of more symmetrical and more asymmetrical self and parental images—patterns that are coherent and can be interpreted as corresponding conflict patterns in terms of attachment and separation.