title: A systemic approach to resistance: theoretical and technical considerations.
abstract: A systemic approach to resistance allows the individual therapist to appreciate the adaptive, protective, systems-maintaining aspects of "help-rejecting" behaviors which might otherwise elicit negatively toned interventions that serve to heighten or rigidify a resistant impasse. This article illustrates how a systemic perspective assists the psychodynamically oriented psychotherapist in adopting a neutral and respectful attitude toward a patient's resistant posture, and also explores implications for the theoretical understanding and technical management of resistance.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*