dealing with resistance in psychotherapy

Resistance is an unfortunate term for the manifestation of defense mechanisms in the treatment situation. Use of the word to a psychoanalytically unsophisticated patient may evoke undesired consequences because to a patient, it implies deliberate intent and thus, blame. From the patient's unconscious, or at time conscious, point of view, these defenses protect the individual from a variety of intrapsychic or interpersonal dangers. As long as these defenses are in play, the process of exploration and discovery comes to a halt. They must be understood and carefully analyzed for they are at the heart of the treatment impasse. This book is written for the professional psychotherapist who may be puzzled why work with a particular patient or client is going nowhere. It brings to the therapist's attention a wide variety of these defenses, these resistances, so that they can be addressed and resolved.

Althea Horner is an honorary member of the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute and Society and a scientific associate of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis. She is listed in Who’s Who in America and is the author of The Primacy of Structure, Object Relations and the Developing Ego in Therapy, The Wish for Power and the Fear of Having It, and Being and Loving.