Working with resistances in complex trauma: A compassionate approach

Dr Kathy Steele

Original price was: $45.00.Current price is: $30.00.

1.5 CPD hours

Both therapists and clients can become frustrated and hopeless when treatment does not progress. A major contribution to therapeutic impasse is resistance, that is, the protective measures clients use to prevent confrontation with what they believe may be overwhelming.

We will explore how to identify resistances and how to work with them more compassionately and effectively. Both phobic avoidance and characterological defenses will be described along a continuum of severity. Early assessment of potential resistance is important, including specific prognostic factors and capacities for engaging in therapy.

Therapists will learn to identify and resolve their own common counter-resistances and defenses that have the potential to coincide with the client’s defensive protection. Compassionate and collaborative approaches will be discussed.

Participants will be able to:

Identity implicit and explicit manifestations of resistance through ongoing assessment of the client.
Employ at least four approaches to resolve resistance.
Identify and resolve counter-resistance in the therapist.

About Dr Kathy Steele

Kathy Steele, MN, CS, has been in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia for over three decades, specializing in the treatment of complex trauma, dissociation, attachment difficulties, and the challenges of complicated therapies. She is an adjunct faculty at Emory University, and a Fellow and past President of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

Kathy teaches internationally and consults with individuals, groups, and trauma programs. She has received a number of awards for her clinical and published works, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from ISSTD.

Kathy has published both journal articles and book chapters, and has co-authored three books, including:

The Haunted Self (2006)
Coping with Trauma-related Dissociation (2011)
Treating Trauma-related Dissociation: A Practical, Integrative Approach (2016).

Kathy presented for Delphi in 2020 and 2021. Both of Kathy’s webinars are available On-Demand