Summary
Resistance in group therapy in particular was considered from the point of view that the unchanging behavior reveals the patient's generalized mode of adaptation utilized to maintain stability and avoid anxiety while achieving his goals. “Constitutional” resistance (I.) refers to the imprecise response of the nervous and vegetative systems to changing circumstances, divisible into (A) genetic lag and (B) cognitive styles, with clinical manifestations of chronic posicatastrophic stress reaction, certain psychosomatic phenomena, and perceptual distortions such as defective reception, attribution, and projection. “Dynamic Maintenance of Stability” (II.) is subdivided into (A) The self-signaling system: feeling of weakness; blaming others; and (B) overt-social-manipulative efforts: (1) Learned role as a patient: passivity; and (2) Unwillingness to yield infantile gratification: weak motivation; pseudoparticipation; defective transmission; nonverbal behavior; character armoring; disturbing activities; and, transference. The topic is approached as an extension of the biological theory of adaptation.
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The clinical observations described herein were primarily from the author's groups at the New York Regional Office of the Veterans Administration. Helpful comments concerning the manuscript were received from Julius Barasch, M.D., chief of the Psychiatry and Neurology Service, Milton Berger, M.D., consultant in group psychotherapy, Sidney Pally, Ph.D., Melvin Wiederlight, M.D., and Ernest Oppenheimer, M.D. Mrs. Judith Wechsler, medical librarian, provided invaluable assistance. The article is based upon a paper read March 19, 1965, at the annual meeting of the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, in New York City.
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Parker, R.S. The varieties of resistance in group psychotherapy considered from the viewpoint of adaptation. Psych Quar 41, 525–535 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01562614
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01562614