ABSTRACT
The resistance to therapy may be expressed in any one of a number of ways. It can precede therapy such that therapy never begins. Or it can interrupt the therapeutic process such that therapy is terminated early or the process doesn't achieve its highest goals. The chapter brings the problematical nature of resistance into view so as to help mediate or circumvent some of the preliminary resistances to therapy itself. Unlike other forms of therapy, psychoanalytic psychotherapy is directed towards helping us to see and reflect on the unconscious processes of mind despite our decided resistances to doing so. Psychotherapy does not proceed through cognitive process. Rather, it proceeds through the unconscious contents of mind that get caught up and expressed in the stories we tell and live. It also proceeds through the relationship between the patient and the therapist.
