ABSTRACT
Just as clients are impacted by pain and negative events from the past, so are therapists. When blocks come up, therapists seem to think of it in a couple of ways. They might see it as they, the therapist, is doing something wrong, like it’s a sign that they’re not good enough as a therapist to get the client to do what they want them to do. It takes a lot of courage to sit with another human being and really lean into their struggles. And without the lens of relentless empathy, leaning into the clients’ struggles is going to be really challenging. The clients are not trying to be difficult on purpose. Having relentless empathy helps people to be able to go under the surface of resistance and be able to organize and make sense of what’s happening. Many therapists when clients get resistant and a block presents itself will try to push the client into change.
