ABSTRACT
Level I therapists who tend to focus more on their own anxieties are less able to see beyond surface behaviors, and less able to appreciate the true nature of ambivalence. By contrast, a Level II therapist is clearly more focused on client behavior than his own. As such, he is in a better position to be able to discern and understand his client’s behavior in terms of its underlying ambivalence (i.e., a type of conflict or dilemma). Aided by nonlinear thinking, such focus is more likely to result in moving the therapeutic process forward to a successful conclusion. Given the dynamic importance of ambivalence in the change process and its integral connection to emotions generated by threats to schemas, nonlinear thinking is required to manage a client’s ambivalence and help the person to resolve it.
