ABSTRACT
Good therapy can take place because of, or despite, the array of personal strengths and vulnerabilities that lead someone to become a therapist in the first place. As postpartum women enter the therapeutic relationship with their own characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving, therapists similarly possess characteristics that influence their approach to the relationship and process. On the topic of resistance to treatment, the delicate needs of a postpartum woman will trump any therapist's well-tuned skill set. The paradox of a woman's desire for and aversion to help at this time can make any seasoned therapist rethink everything he or she thought they knew. Before a postpartum therapist can effectively hold a postpartum client, careful assessment of one's own readiness is essential. The desire to make others feel good appears at first glance to be driven by empathy, but sometimes, motivation is drawn from a more self-oriented, people-pleasing impulse.
