ABSTRACT
Reversals seem to have both an energetic and a mental cognitive-emotional dimension, as well as often expressing psychodynamic conflict. Sometimes reversals can be very specific and idiosyncratic. Identifying the psychological content behind them can be crucial. Low self-esteem and a general lack of confidence may be held in place by reversals associated with anxieties about what may happen if the person becomes more confident. A patient spoke of her tendency to avoid following through on whatever plans or intentions she might form. The beliefs and anxieties behind reversals vary in the intensity and rigidity with which they are held. Some have a more absolute quality, akin to a kind of internal law. The fact that energy methods can work quickly and effectively, sometimes clearing the negative affect from a wide area of traumatic experience in a single session, may on occasion evoke resistances and reversals through the sheer volume of change.
