ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the forms of opposition under two headings: reluctance and resistance. Reluctance frequently develops in anticipation of pain or other frightening prospects in analysis—for example, when the free associations threaten to bring back painful memories. Extreme reluctance appears episodically in the course of analysis, whenever the patient expects a traumatic consequence, a narcissistic injury. Narcissistic reluctance appears from the start as a relatively enduring characteristic and remains concealed, in two senses. First, the patient deliberately reserves special rights to refrain from speaking of certain matters. Second, the free association method may operate successfully for considerable periods without encountering the restriction imposed. The chapter defines clinical concepts from the viewpoint of the method of free association. The varieties of resistance, like the varieties of free association, can be formulated according to individual preference and the conditions of the moment. The expression of negative transference is as varied as the modes of free association that convey it.
