What is the ego? For Anna Freud (and the ego-psychology movement) the ego is the mediator between the id (instincts, drives), the superego (internalised parental/moral authority), & reality (external demands). In neurosis, the ego is overrun by drive demands or harsh superego pressures; so the therapist’s task is to reinforce the ego’s capacities so it can manage these forces more effectively.

This is view is, arguably, based on a mis-reading of her father, who does not always see the ego as a bastion of strength against those competing demands. In 'On Narcissism' (1914) he says, 'the ego is first and foremost a bodily ego; it is not merely a surface entity, but is itself the projection of a surface.' 

Lacan seizes on this insight and reformulates it. He sees the ego as a 'mis-recognition' of a desired but impossible unity, presented to the child for the first time in her bodily reflection in the mirror.

This matters if we are conceptualizing our therapeutic task: should we support and reinforce ego functions? Or - as Lacan would have it - be looking for the signifiers structuring the unconscious, challenging the imaginary unity of ego, and helping the client understand their relation to their desire?

Personally, I think a Buddhist position might be integrative: taking the compassion of Anna Freud, with the insight of Lacan. 

What do you think?