Defense Mechanisms in the Counseling Process

The client material... stimulated thought and reflection... Clark presenteda large number of very tricky case studies and illustrated all manner ofdifferent and... » 

The client material... stimulated thought and reflection... Clark presenteda large number of very tricky case studies and illustrated all manner ofdifferent and interesting ways of responding to clients who find it difficultto engage with the process of counselling. Furthermore this is done in theframework of a model of counselling which integrates humanistic psychodynamicand cognitivebehavioural theories in a most interesting and convincing way. Inthe end I learned quite a lot and found myself pondering the case historiesdays later Counselling The Journal of the British Association forCounsellingThe understanding of defence mechanisms is vital to counsellors andpsychotherapists particularly those who use psychodynamic models to informtheir practice. This volume presents a systematic approach to identifying andmodifying client defence mechanisms in the counselling process.Arthur J Clark discusses specific defence mechanisms and presents theirtheoretical origins psychopathology and definitions. Then using a threestagemodel of the counselling process he examines methods for dealing with thesedefence mechanisms at appropriate stages of counselling. Clark providesextensive examples throughout that both illustrate the mechanisms and thetherapeutic change that can result in spite of them. He also includes anintegrative case example which demonstrates the changes in clients defencesthroughout the counselling process. «