Handling Resistance in Depressed Patients

Abstract

The present article describes the specific problems of handling resistance when treating depressed patients with Davanloo's technique. These include: (1) the need to bring patients to the actual experience of the ways in which they use regressive mechanisms to defend themselves against transference feelings, (2) the need to take particular care to make patients consciously aware of their mechanisms, and (3) the need to assess very carefully the quality of the depression and the danger of suicide. These issues are illustrated with a clinical example. Copyright © 1986 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.