ABSTRACT
Leahy defines client resistance as ‘anything in the patient’s behavior, thinking, affective response, and interpersonal style that interferes with the ability of that patient to utilize the treatment and to acquire the ability to handle problems outside of therapy and after therapy has been terminated’ (2001: 11). These ‘interferences’ may include homework non-compliance, endless ‘yes, buts . . .’, not adhering to the agreed session agenda, always being late for therapy or missing appointments frequently, not taking responsibility for change, focusing on issues that are not clinically relevant, being overly compliant with everything the therapist suggests, and jumping from problem to problem before any productive changes have occurred in the previous problem – these and other difficulties will militate against the client becoming his own therapist which is the ultimate goal of cognitive therapy. Kwee and Lazarus state that ‘resistance is bound to occur whenever one tries to exert influence on somebody else. Otherwise therapy would be a simple job, for it would then be sufficient merely to tell the client what to do’ (1986: 333).
