ABSTRACT
Before we begin to consider ways of managing `resistance', it is useful to re¯ect upon the meaning of the word itself (Anderson and Stewart 1983). Many practitioners would regard the concept of resistance as unhelpful, if not dangerous. Carpenter and Treacher (1989) for instance note that the term has often been applied to families but a truly systemic concept would include therapists and the agencies they work for as contributing to resistance. For instance, a therapist may say `I do not work with these kinds of families' and not surprisingly receive `resistance' back from those families. Equally, an agency might limit the kinds of problems they work with, so when a family outside this de®nition arrives the family will feel unwanted and therefore become uncooperative. Carpenter and Treacher (1989) also point out that certain families may be rejected unconsciously by the therapist themselves for reasons that have to do with their own family scripts. For instance, some male therapists will ®nd dominant fathers in families dif®cult as this behaviour reminds them of their own experiences. As a result they will fail to listen to the father and undermine him non-verbally. Not surprisingly, that father will display behaviour that is increasingly dominant (to get himself heard) and will get labelled `resistant' by the therapist.
