A gestalt-experiential perspective on resistance.

Full Abstract

The authors present background on the gestalt-experiential understanding of resistance, conceptualized to be either resistance to awareness or resistance to contact. The authors discuss why they do not use the term resistance and describe the phenomena as a client's self-protective attempt to avoid the anxiety necessitated by change. Such resistant behaviors occur outside a client's awareness and often result in an ambivalence or conflict about change. The authors also describe using in-session experiments as a way to engage with the client in exploring such a state of ambivalence or conflict. Finally, they respond to the case studies presented elsewhere in this issue and propose intervention strategies consistent with the gestalt-experiential perspective.Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Author information

Author/s: Engle, David (D); Holiman, Marjorie (M);

Affiliation: 6420 N. Avenida Manzana, Tucson, AZ 85741-2934, USA. engdavt@aol.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comment; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of clinical psychology (J Clin Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Feb; vol 58 (issue 2) : pp 175-83

Dates: Created 2002/01/16; Completed 2002/03/06; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 11793330, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentOn: J Clin Psychol. 2002 Feb;58(2):139-44. (PMID: 11793325)

CommentOn: J Clin Psychol. 2002 Feb;58(2):145-9. (PMID: 11793326)

CommentOn: J Clin Psychol. 2002 Feb;58(2):151-6. (PMID: 11793327)

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