Resistance is Fertile

Resistance is Fertile

One of the biggest questions in modern therapy is how to most-effectively work with what’s known as a “resistant” client.  The idea of resistance is a simple one that belies a complex reality: some clients wont respond well to what the therapist is doing, and progress will be slow or nonexistent.  It’s a little hard for me to write about any of this - resistance, progress - without throwing quotes on every other word, but since that looks awful in print please assume I view all of this askance.  It’s worth noting that the question of resistance is a question that has only shown up in the modern era of therapy; Freud and the analytic gang not only weren’t worried about “resistance”, they didn’t have even have a concept of it.  Why is that?

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Questions of Medication

Questions of Medication

As a non-prescribing therapist, I find myself being asked to counsel people on using medication to effect their mood very, very often.  People want to know if I think medication might help them, if it might harm them, what kind of medication might be useful, as well as how much.  The most frequent question I get from clients and others, though, is simply about whether or not I agree with the idea of medicating a person’s mood.  Make no mistake, this is a very popular topic in the therapeutic community.  And while I think the answer is simple, I don’t think it’s obvious...

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What it Means to be Free

What it Means to be Free

When I was 13, I requested that my parents sign me up with a therapist.  Being 13, I probably actually said psychiatrist on account of not knowing any better, but my folks made a wise choice and found me someone who was more interested in talking than prescribing.  That being said, now that I work with that age group, I can see that this is not as rare a request for a teen to make as I had always assumed.  A lot of my clients are brought to me by baffled parents who don’t know quite why their kids want to talk to a professional.  And when I meet with those teens who ask for a therapist, the reason is often the same: angst...

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Learning to Talk

Learning to Talk

I have a client right now, let’s call him Brian, who’s been teaching me a lot of lessons about agency and patience.  He’s quite young - under 15, over 10, right in the middle of things - and he’s quite sensitive.  His parents have been quick to tell me that he’s been having a lot of trouble lately and like to give me little updates about him whenever we see each other.  To ask him, there’s nothing to worry about.  And though I agree with him, I do know that there’s a lot going on in his world that’s pretty troubling - the sort of thing that could be cause for worry if ignored over the long term...

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