Client Defenses & Clinical Blocks
Avoidance, intellectualization, and other defenses may protect clients from overwhelming feelings, but they also slow and prevent growth. Attuned therapists understand these defenses as adaptive strategies that once served survival. Navigating them well requires creativity, patience, and a willingness to explore what lies beneath protective patterns without forcing premature vulnerability. These articles offer insights into overcoming common defenses, like anger and chronic lateness, as well as other therapeutic impasses. Learn from therapy's leading voices about working skillfully with defenses.
The Case of the Late Client
Janina Fisher & Gabor Maté Tackle a Clinical Challenge
How can therapists help medical professionals process difficult experiences when their profession demands stoicism and invulnerability? Read more
What if wisdom—the elusive prize so many of us strive for—is actually a practical skill clients can gain in the course of everyday therapy sessions? Read more
A client’s anger over his therapist’s environmental choices leads to an important turning point in their work. Read more
Are you matching your self-presentation and efforts with your clients' emotional capacity to respond? Read more
Longtime experts in the field offer tips on how to get the conversation going when your clients have nothing to say. Read more
When it comes to self-talk, a therapist explores our tendency to be our worst enemy. Read more
From her bestselling book, psychotherapist Whitney Goodman shares common examples of toxic positivity and why they hurt. Read more
At 92, a pugnacious client discovers that it’s never too late to change. Read more
According to psychoanalysis, we all carry an imago—an image of our parents inside of us. But what do you do when the negative, traumatic, or unconscious... Read more
In this collection, master therapists share how they’ve used humor in ways that both enliven and enrich the work of therapy. Read more
A client has a lot of regret about past decisions he’s made, and although his therapist has talked with him about them at length, the client still can't seem... Read more
How do you work with a client who intentionally tries to break every rule of therapy, spoken and implicit? Read more
We’re all imperfect human beings, so the need to give and receive apologies is with us until our very last breath. Yet there’s no greater challenge than... Read more
A client sees his perfectionism as an advantage, even though it ramps up his anxiety, exacerbates his sense of shame, and keeps him living a very rigid life... Read more
Although it’s not usually acknowledged, change in the consulting room goes both ways. Even as they help clients wrestle with their issues, it’s the rare... Read more
Of all the meaningful sessions that take place in a therapist’s career, what makes certain ones stand out? Sometimes, it’s taking creative leaps in... Read more
A therapist recommends exercises like journaling prompts and guided mediations that she feels would benefit her clients between sessions. Although they seem... Read more
When both client and therapist are unclear about the source of resistance, it can bring treatment to a halt. Renowned therapist Steve Andreas believes that... Read more
Do you have a client who you can't seem to help, no matter what techniques you try? In this brief video, master clinician David Burns—one of the developers... Read more
Basketball has taught me many lessons. I learned about trust, relationships, and teamwork. I learned the power to regulate feelings. It would shape my... Read more
Helping clients set boundaries can be a risky business, especially when people pleasing has been a lifelong strategy. * Commentary by Courtney Armstrong Read more
Four steps to help clients take new practices learned in the consulting room back into their everyday lives. Read more
The best way to ensure clients' cooperation is to make the assignments relevant for them. Task assignments are designed to bring about changes in the... Read more
As therapists, we need to be open to feedback, even criticism, as a means of deepening the therapeutic relationship. Establishing trust by moving beyond the... Read more
Rather than just commiserating with clients’ misery, most therapists want to engage in more active forms of helping. So we try to persuade clients... Read more
Have you ever wondered if some men in your practice are simply unable to listen, connect, and empathize with their partners? According to Pat Love, it’s more... Read more
What someone resists persists. It’s a paradoxical dynamic that you’ve probably seen in the course of your own clinical work. In this video, Chris explains... Read more
In this video, Tim walks us through his process for engaging a client who’s resistant to self-compassion. It’s a great step-by-step example that will give... Read more
When clients get immersed in their problems, they often suffer from a kind of tunnel vision, focused on a small range of experiences, with their bad feelings... Read more
If you’ve got a client who frequently oversleeps, binges on junk food and alcohol, and passes up fresh air for hours in front of the television, there’s a... Read more
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