RESISTANCE DOES NOT EXIST

Walter and Peller wrote: “Clients are always cooperating. They are showing us how they
think change takes place. As we understand their thinking and act accordingly, cooperation
is inevitable” (1992, p. 200). The notion that the professional knows what is best for his or
her client derives from the medical model. If the client puts the expert’s ideas aside or does
not follow his or her advice, it is usually attributed to the client’s own character flaws or to a
deep-rooted pathology. In the medical model, the expectation is that the professional will
make the client better through his or her interventions. If it works, the professional feels
proficient in his or her work and receives credit for the progress made. If there is no
progress, the blame is frequently assigned to the client, which allows the professional to
distance him- or herself from any responsibility.
In his article “The Death of Resistance,” de Shazer (1984) argued that what professionals
view as signs of resistance are, in fact, unique ways in which the client chooses to cooperate.
For example, a client who does not do the assigned homework does not show resistance;
rather, this is his or her way of cooperating and telling the professional that the homework is
not in accordance with how he or she does things. De Shazer assumed that clients are
capable of finding out what they want and need as well as how they can achieve it. It is the
professional’s task to help the client discover these abilities and guide him or her in creating
a satisfying and productive life.
De Shazer has offered the pleasing image of the relationship between the client and the
professional as that of a tennis team: