Chapter 7.Defense and Resistance
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Excerpt
Defense and resistance are closely allied concepts. Defense refers to the means by which the mind unconsciously protects itself from danger from within and without. Resistance refers to the operation of defense within the analytic situation. The progression of analysis entails a deepening process for both analyst and patient: the patient’s inner world of fantasies and feelings gradually becomes focused on the figure of the analyst while the patient comes into contact with previously inaccessible aspects of that inner world, and the analyst’s own inner world comes alive as well in the service of coming to understand the patient. Resistance reflects the ways by which patient and analyst oppose and manage this deepening and the dangers that arise from it. The interpretation and working-through of resistance is a central aspect of analytic work and makes a major contribution to the lasting change that analysis may produce.
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