Definition: A phenomenon in which a client openly or covertly denies the consultant's analysis, delays and resists the consultant's requests during the consultation process, thus affecting the progress of the consultation and even making it difficult for the consultation to proceed smoothly.
The nature of resistance: The client’s mental defense and resistance to self-exposure and self-change during psychological counseling
Resistance usually manifests as people's avoidance of certain anxious emotions or denial of certain painful experiences.
Actively identifying the manifestations of resistance and effectively overcoming it can increase the psychological communication between the counselor and the client and promote their understanding of specific thoughts and behaviors.
Overcoming resistance is an important part of psychological counseling
The concept of resistance was first proposed by Freud. He defined resistance as the repression of those memories and understandings that cause anxiety in the process of free association.
The Significance of Resistance in Psychoanalysis: Strengthening Individual Self-Defense
Behavioral psychologists understand resistance as an individual's disobedience to behavioral modification
Four types of expressions of impedance
speaking level impedance
Silence (the most prominent): The seeker refuses to answer the questions asked by the counselor, or there is a long pause. This is the most active resistance of the seeker to psychological counseling. It often requires the counselor to explain patiently and sincerely to eliminate it.
Oligospeech: usually expressed in the form of phrases, simple sentences and mantras (such as um, oh, ah)
Talking too much (avoiding reality): During the psychological consultation process, the client talks endlessly about things that are not related to the consultation.
Speech level → talk more and talk less
Speech Content Impedance
Theoretical conversation: The client tries to talk to the counselor in psychological or medical terms
Emotional catharsis: the client’s strong emotional reaction to certain counseling content
Talking about trivial matters (the smallest and most difficult to detect): The client talks endlessly about trivial matters that are insignificant during the session.
False questions: The client asks the counselor seemingly appropriate but actually meaningless questions to avoid talking about a certain issue or to deepen a certain impression.
Speech content→What did you say?
speech impedance
Extrapsychological attribution: The client completely attributes the cause of certain psychological conflicts and contradictions to the results of external influences.
Forgetfulness: Forgetting when talking about topics that cause anxiety and mental distress
Obedience: Absolute agreement and obedience to everything the counselor says
Controlling topics: During the meeting, blindly ask the counselor to talk about topics that interest you, and avoid topics that you do not want to talk about.
Final Exposure: Deliberately telling important events at the very end of the counseling session
way of speaking → attitude
Resistance in the Counseling Relationship
Default (lateness is a reliable indicator of impedance)
Failure to conscientiously fulfill the psychological consultation arrangements includes not coming to the consultation on time, being late or leaving early for excuses, not completing the homework assigned by the consultant seriously, not paying or delaying the payment of consultation fees, etc.
Seducing counselors means that the seeker affects the process of psychological counseling by drawing the counselor's attention to his words, deeds, appearance, etc., and strengthens his position in psychological counseling.
To a certain extent, treating guests and giving gifts can also express some self-defense needs of the seeker and his desire to control the psychological counseling relationship.
Counseling relationship → Deliberately destroying the counseling setting
Causes of impedance [Kavanagh]
Resistance comes from growing pains
Issues involved in growth content
Issues that begin to establish new behaviors, new concepts, and new thinking
End or eliminate problems with old behaviors
Resistance comes from functional behavioral disorders
Definition: Disordered behavior initially occurs accidentally because it satisfies a certain need. The behavior increases in frequency until it becomes fixed.
Specific performance
The client is anxious about the disordered behavior
The enthusiasm of help seekers is not high
specific reason
The disordered behavior satisfies some psychological need, i.e. the client benefits from it
The client attempts to cover up deeper psychological conflicts with disordered behavior
Resistance arises from psychological motivations that resist counseling or the counselor
Want to get some approval or disapproval from the counselor
Want to prove that you are different or that the counselor cannot help you
The person seeking help has no genuine motivation for seeking treatment.
Dealing with impedance phenomena
Disarm yourself by building good relationships
Correct diagnosis and analysis
Grasp the underlying issues as early as possible, have a clear understanding of the personality characteristics of the seeker, gain the trust of the other party, and eliminate resistance.
When the client’s resistance is related to the counselor, understand the reasons and resolve them
Sincerely helpful attitude
Tell the other party about the existence of resistance → Get the other party to agree and confirm → Understand the reasons for the resistance → Explain the resistance
Use counseling techniques to break through resistance
The main purpose of dealing with impedance: to explain impedance, understand the causes of impedance, and finally break through the impedance to make progress in consultation.
[Freud] believes that explanation is a weapon to overcome resistance
[Key Points in Dealing with Resistance] The key to breaking through resistance is to mobilize the enthusiasm of the seekers so that they can work with the counselor to find the source of resistance and understand the root causes of resistance.
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