Hagan Provan

Citation

Thesis Title
Therapist Relational Skills and Client Resistance in a Short Motivational Programme of Offenders

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Developing a better understanding of psychological resistance has the potential to increase the efficacy of psychotherapy, especially in offending populations where resistance is a challenging issue. Resistance is viewed as oppositional behaviour and a lack of engagement within a therapy session. Dr Provan investigated the relationship between therapist empathy and resistance, and client resistance in an offending population. The results showed that therapist resistance and client resistance were strongly and positively related, and that these variables were synchronised in terms of their onset, intensity and cessation in one minute timeframes. There was also a strong, but inverse relationship, between therapist empathy and client resistance. The findings provide evidence that client resistance is not simply a characteristic an offender brings to a session, but can also be the result of a dysfunctional interpersonal dynamic, exacerbated by poor therapist relational skills. These include therapists’ lack of empathy, defensive behaviour, not listening and misinterpretation.

Supervisors
Dr Dave Clarke
Dr Mei Wah Williams