Resistance in Families

You’ve seen him or her before: The client who just doesn’t want to be in your office, but agreed to go in hopes that it would appease their partner or parent. They slouch, they mutter, and they might actively insult you or the world of therapy. These clients can undermine treatment. They also can become your most valuable asset for creating change. This course focuses on treating families where one or more family members does not agree with, or is actively pushing back against, the therapy process. Topics include getting initial buy-in, handling blame, strategic interventions, and bringing back family members after some kind of rupture.

1 hour CE. Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 1.02 hours 

CE CREDITS: 1.00 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health Practitioners

LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION: Intermediate

PREREQUISITE(S): None

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of audio components. In order to request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, learners must complete a pre-test (not scored), progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post-test. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.

FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:  This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.

GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.

PARTICIPATION COSTS:  The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.

COURSE CREATION DATE: 7/28/2020 

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Define resistance in terms of its systemic function
• Identify the individual within a family whose buy-in is most necessary for successful treatment
• Apply at least two systemic interventions designed to overcome resistance

1. Defining resistance
   1. Overt and covert resistance
2. Getting buy-in
   1. Building a relationship with each individual
   2. You don’t need everyone’s full support
   3. Knowing whose support you need the most
   4. Role-play demonstrations
3. Addressing blame
   1. The “identified patient”
   2. Why the identified patient does not want help
   3. Challenging family narratives around blame
4. Systemic interventions