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    Tiberiu S
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    7 views8 pages

    A Primer Working With Resistance - 1 - The Concept of Resistance

    Uploaded by

    Tiberiu S

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 8
    ee ee ee ee eee ee ee [ONE The Concept of Resistance OBS CONFLICT MANIFEST ITSELF CLINICALLY? very day after work, very depressed young man sits inthe dark in his ving room hour ater hou, delay nothing, his mind Blank. By his sde is his stereo and magnificent collection of his favorite ‘lsseal musi. The fick of «switch and he would fee beter —and etn after night, overwhelmed with despair, he just ss, never ‘nce touching that switch, vould like to suggest that we think ofthis man as being in state of internal conte (although he may not, at this point, be ftware of such confi), He could turn on his stereo, but he does no. [He could do something that would make him fel better, but he does rothing. Within this tan is tension between what he “should” let ‘imelt do and what he finds himself doing Instead. 4 ADRIMER ON WORKING WITH RESISTANCE, 1m general, patients both do and don’ want to got beter. They both do and doatt ant to maintain things as they are. They both do hd dont want to get on wih thelr ives. They both ste and are’t invested in their suffering, They aze truly confieted about al the ‘holees that confront them. “The patient may proest that he desperately wants to change. He does and be doesn’. He may insist that he would do anything in ‘order to fel beter, Well, yes and no, On some level, everybody ‘wants things to Be better, but few are willing to change: HOW DOES CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYSIS CONCEPTUALIZE CONFLICT? Drive theory conscives of confit as involving intemal tension ‘between impulse insisting “yes” and ego defense protesting “no” {withthe superego coming down usually on the side of the ego). In Ralph Greenson's (1967) words: “A neurotic confit is an uncon- {sous conflict between an i@ impulse seeking discharge and an exo Aefense warding off the impulee's deect discharge or acces £0 ‘onseioumnes” (p. 17) ‘Although drives are considered part of the id, affects (ive tesivatives) are thought fo reside the ego In Fact, the ego isa 0 be the seat ofall affects, When Freud writes of psychic confit beeween the id andthe ego, sis understood that sometimes he is feferring to conflict between an id drive and an ego defense and Sometimes he i refering to conflict between an anxity-provoking fet (inthe ego but deriving from the id) end an ego defense. WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SUCH CONFLICTS? “The patent is sad but doesnot let himself ry. “The patient is angry bur is determined (o remain in contol “The patient is upset but tres not co ett show. ‘The patient is frightened but pretends he isnot. “The patient i disppointed but claims that alls wel {THE CONCEPT OF RESISTANCE : Way AND NOW DOES THE eee ore | ae In cach of the above sttlons, the patient ts experiencing some tn cach fst cx hm fal aous or comfortable Bate doce attest tt haat way and so defends inset agains te otog by aoe ensucnce by protesting tht he doesnot feel tat way, oF deovng Olathe feclssomething she fogebes In may of PO ays the patient defends himsel nuit the aoe Jrowoking or pail at eee, the paint expricncing an affect thatthe cao a oable. In oder to defend el gaia he aly eet the aff, the ebo Mobis 4 detese Yo oppore the test “tne net real confit, variously described as neurotic fnurapayeie, oF siesta. How MIGHT WE OPERATIONALIZE THE CONCEPT OF CONFLICT? et us think, more generally, of piyehic conftice as spetking 10 [Shieh Thin the pation between those healthy forces that press Sex" and those eubealthy counterforces that insist "No." "For example thefes always tension within the patient becween his recognition that i sup fo him to take responsiblity for is fe (ehh apenks to his healthy wish to get ete) and his convition {hav stout nos have to be his responsibilty (whi speaks 10 his Unmealtny eed t0 preserve things as they are). There is lays Uhcalt nthe patient between his heathy investment in changing ‘Sid unbeahyFelctasceo Tet 20 of his old ways of doing thine WHAT ARE SOME MORE EXAMPLES OF CONFLICT? “The paint woul ke todo wel on hs examination, and yet Ne ‘Tas fan eo t0 make himself sed. ne, eee ‘The patent knows that he should tlk about how angry he's wth his father, bathe doesnot yet fel ready todo that ‘The patient knows that he should try to come on time 10 his session, but he nds hac consi snng 3 10 miner into te nou. “The patient want to remember his dreams, bi he is uniling to sete then down. Tas pt knows he ha ad step pre fr having ad Such an emotionally abusive mother, but he not yet prepared to det wit ta (On some level the patient knows tha eventually he must deal with Just how diappoite he en his therapt, ut he hopes ti inet be abl to gt Batter without having to do that. The paint was to seed, bt hee ot entirely sure that he diserves to make “The patent knows tha hs therapist docs relly have all the answers, bute wishes his theapit di Inhis heat of heats the patient knows that hs mothe wll never realy love him a he wants to be loved, ad yet he finds hist Continuing to hope that maybe sted she il ‘he pant knows that be mus be sd shout the death of his father, Bat be cant Sam of his ely fea IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, CONFLICT INVOLVES TENSION BETWEEN WHAT. KINDS OF FORCES? Ultimately, the force defended against isthe helthy (but anxety- provoking) force within each of es that empowers uso change. the force that empowers us to relinquish ur tie to the past in onder to ‘gon withthe present, the force that empowers us to move forwarl In our lives. The counterforee is the ushealthy (but antes). ‘ssuaging) force within each of ws that rests change, the force that gine tencouty tothe past the force thet neds Our proses “THE CONCEPT OF RESISTANCE 7 Inthe final analysis, conflict involves tension between the patient's healthy wish fo change and his unhealthy resistance (0 hanee. ARE WE ADDRESSING CONVERGENT OR DIVERGENT CONFLICT: ‘Because we are here discussing the patient's resistance, our interests in convergent conflict (Kris 1977), confit between two opposing Fores, one force originating asa defense against the other, fo fact Sepending upon the other fr lis very existence. Convergent conflict farses In the context of tension between one force that presses "Yes" fad another force tht opposes with a “No.” The coaice beeen Toree and countrforce fs known as conflict of defense or conver- sent conc. For exazaple, consider an agressive impulse tht is opposed by the fore of repression, The presence ofthe id aggression arouses lanvety inthe obo, which promps the ego to mobilize a defense. The fepresive fore is deat rea f the presence ofthe agereson. ‘This isan stance, sherefore, of convergent confi. Whan drive theorists speak of prychic conflict, they are usually teferrng to “itersyatemic™ confit between i impulse (derivative fffect) and ep0 defense—that i, convergent confit between forces ‘within separate psychic stuctres (or systems) By comparison, there afe “lntrasytemic™ conflicts between forces within the same payee structure, bet the Id, the ego, oF the superego. There i confit, for exampic, between Tove and hate, fetive and passive, love of one’s country and love of one's family, fear of fallure and fear of success, 1 name a few. These are divergent contits. ‘Divergent confit arses from conflict between tv forces that are mutually exclusive, Nofonger are we talking about two forces In sate of dynamie equllviumy now we ar talking abou two frees Sing for exclusivity. Either the one or the other will ram. In what fol, we wll be addressing ourselves primarily to the ‘convergent conflict tat exists between two forces in direct oppose tion t9 each other, the one a defense agaist the other. More 5 A PRIMER ON WORKING WITH RESISTANCE specifiy, we wil be concerned with the patient's experience of the {casion within him between the two forces in opposition, i wills {his interna tension that wil eventually provide the Ipetes fee ‘overcoming the paticnt's resistance HOW IS CONVERGENT CONFLICT EXPERIENCED BY THE PATIENT? On the on band the rae has some antes of wha he “shouldbe esing/ doings he has some knowldas Of what te or “healthy.” On the otter hand, he finds himself Teahogaeey Something other than hat: On some lee the patent ease fone the tah om another evel he Pde Rl efonding sete sshaowlgment oft "Xpretied Somewhat diferent tems, there eve tension ‘hi the patient between what Knows fhe seal so whe ‘princes as real~in ater word, tension Between he te of reality and his experience of it. ine] HOW DO KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF REALITY RELATE TO ACCURACY oF PERCEPTION? ‘Tae patients knowledge of rest has todo with accurate percep {i he ay to pers gs a hey Teall are ae Innate bythe need for them to be here The patents experience of realty, however, often has more to wit acurate pereepion devng from eulyon eas ‘withthe prental ober WHAT IS MEANT BY ILLUSION AND DISTORTION ‘The patient's misperceptions of reality are lther unrealistically Dositive, which I will refer to as ilsions, or uneeaiaically nesetve hich wil refer to as ditotions, " {ue CONCEPT OF RESISTANCE . Even though on some level the patient knows better, hes nonethslss always misinterpreting the present, making assumptions hou the preset based on te past, Because of parental negest and {tbe eel on, the patient now Tooks to his contemporary objects to ‘ete good paren he never had iusion) and/or expects them to be the bad parent he did have (distortion). ‘Whether illusion or distortion, the patent clings to is misper-

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