Understanding Client Resistance
What are some common reasons clients may experience resistance?
- Shame in needing help
- Guilt for asking for help
-Anxiety evoked by expectations of therapy
- Ambivalent feelings about getting better
- Honor the defensive coping strategy
- Acknowledge its developmental adaptive value for the client...
"It makes sense that asking for help was not safe because you were ridiculed as being 'too needy.'"
The most common source of resistance is _______.
Shame
The therapists intention is to find the client's ____ __ ______.
Point of urgency.
How can resistance (outside of therapy) serve as an adaptive role for some clients in childhood?
- Children who are not cared for are forced to become self-reliant.
- Resilience can keep the child from being abandoned, ridiculed, hurt, or hit.
How should a therapist move forward after a client has shown hesitancy or resistance before or during the first session?
- Gently bring it into the conversation and offer an opportunity for them to express it further.
Name 2 difference faces of shame that clients can present.
perfectionism, frequently blaming, avoidance, criticizing others, temper outbursts, being edgy, judgmental, self critical, low self-esteem, chronic depression, eating disorders, addictions, preoccupied with appearances, presentation, or approval, social withdrawal, avoidance, inability to accept compliments, preoccupied about being strong, powerful or independent.
The therapists first aim is to ______ and _______ the client's concerns.
Hear and validate
Clients who experience resistance oftentimes have a history of ______ attachment.
Insecure
What can a therapist do when it seems that progress in sessions comes to a halt?
Check in with the Three R's:
- Ruptures
-Reenactments
-Resistance
The key emotion in all forms of shame is _______.
Contempt
If a therapist responds to a client's ______ _______ to blame, the client would remain angry and helpless.
Eliciting pull