Mastering Resistance: A Practical Guide to Family Therapy

Front Cover
Guilford Press, Feb 9, 1983 - Psychology - 259 pages
Resistance--any attitude or behavior of the therapist, patient, or system that resists change--is integral to every therapeutic relationship. Family therapists are all too familiar with challenges to their professional credentials, families' reluctance to convene for treatment, cancellations, rejection of therapy, requests to exclude a family member, and numerous other maneuvers that frustrate therapeutic goals. Mastering Resistance presents concrete, accessible strategies for coping directly with specific, commonly encountered problems of resistance. Moreover, it demonstrates how resistance can effectively be used to foster a stronger therapist-client alliance.
 

Contents

Resistance
1
Initial resistances
39
Common Expressions of Resistance
45
Variations on the Theme of Negotiating
55
Common Expressions of Resistance
62
Contractrelated resistances
76
Common Resistances to Contract Formation
84
Resistances to Terminating Contracts
113
Summary
119
Common resistances
151
Resistances produced
207
Bibliography
247
Index
253
Copyright

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About the author (1983)

Carol M. Anderson is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.
Susan Stewart is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.

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