This is such a wonderfully comprehensive treatment of peoples' resistance to change. I agree with everything you say except the part where you say, we haven't had models until recently that include resistance to change as the primary (or at least the initial) focus. I got my Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1967 (UMASS-Amherst), and I learned that the main thing a therapist does is join with the client to explore their resistances. Or at least that's what I got from my graduate training and internship. Then, I trained as a group and organizational development practitioner at the National Training Labs in 1969, and of course, we studied Lewin's work. And again, the emphasis was on exploring, getting to know, befriending, being curious about, resistances in the system (and using earlier versions of all the other methods our popular culture in now discovering--such as creating psychological safety, IFS, etc.) Carl Rogers taught us about safety back when I was an undergrad (1961). We did use parts work in those days, too. And through psychodrama and gestalt, we learned to embody and speak from our parts both somatically and spatially (much like Family Constellation work). I feel fortunate to have had a really good education in my 20's. Thanks for your great summation of the most useful developments in how to view and work with resistance that have emerged over the past 30 years. I will share and recommend your blog widely.
Love the piece on IFS. Have been using this with my coach and personal practice. Really effective.
Steven,
This is such a wonderfully comprehensive treatment of peoples' resistance to change. I agree with everything you say except the part where you say, we haven't had models until recently that include resistance to change as the primary (or at least the initial) focus. I got my Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1967 (UMASS-Amherst), and I learned that the main thing a therapist does is join with the client to explore their resistances. Or at least that's what I got from my graduate training and internship. Then, I trained as a group and organizational development practitioner at the National Training Labs in 1969, and of course, we studied Lewin's work. And again, the emphasis was on exploring, getting to know, befriending, being curious about, resistances in the system (and using earlier versions of all the other methods our popular culture in now discovering--such as creating psychological safety, IFS, etc.) Carl Rogers taught us about safety back when I was an undergrad (1961). We did use parts work in those days, too. And through psychodrama and gestalt, we learned to embody and speak from our parts both somatically and spatially (much like Family Constellation work). I feel fortunate to have had a really good education in my 20's. Thanks for your great summation of the most useful developments in how to view and work with resistance that have emerged over the past 30 years. I will share and recommend your blog widely.
Wow, what a gift this post is to all of us reading it. Thanks for all of the time and effort you put into creating it. It really resonated!