A case illustration of resistance from a gestalt-experiential perspective

Abstract

The case of Victoria illustrates psychotherapy with a woman faced with a difficult and unexpected divorce. The authors present a summary of typical struggles faced by Victoria through three phases of therapy. The therapy focused initially on coping with the divorce, then moved to work on her career dissatisfaction and, finally, to her efforts to develop a new relationship. The case presentation illustrates resistance as it manifested itself in both a behavioral manner and as in-session resistance to awareness of internal states. The behavioral mode of resistance is manifested by her inability to follow through on decisions made in therapy sessions and by her interruptions of ongoing therapy. The resistance to awareness is illustrated by a transcript of a typical in-session exchange. The authors also describe interventions intended to work with the resistance. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.