ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of a research process and the criteria for organizing and analyzing its interview material. The concept of research can be daunting for many clinical practitioners. Therapists are accustomed to being in the thick of action, more than stepping back to study, quantify, or record. A positive shift in use of adaptive defenses in talking about the experience of internal conflict, and of working with clients’ painful or overwhelming stories can imply an increase in the clinician’s emotional resilience. In categorizing analysis of data for the research, traits and attitudes generally attributed to emotional resilience were listed with the qualities corresponding to each Mature Adaptive Defense. Interview transcripts were read and notated for evidence of demonstration of resilience traits, attitudes, ideas, and general defense patterns. Evidence for resilience traits functioning outside of the person’s conscious awareness, for whatever adaptive/defensive reason, was considered.
