Resistance and IFS with Virginia Jenkins

In this episode of Going Inside: Healing Trauma From The Inside Out, I sit down with Virginia Jenkins, a mindfulness-based IFS therapist, to delve deep into the complexities of resistance and how it manifests in trauma healing. We explore the nuances of why clients might resist taking care of their own parts and the importance of honoring resistance rather than bypassing it. We also discuss practical tools for both therapists and clients to approach stuckness with compassion and curiosity, rather than frustration.
Key Takeaways:
1. Honoring Resistance:
Resistance in IFS therapy often signals deeper pain and unmet needs. It’s crucial to approach it with respect and patience, recognizing that it often arises from a place of deep emotional wounds.
2. Sitting with Stuckness:
Virginia introduces a powerful exercise called "Sitting at the Wall," which emphasizes the importance of not pushing past resistance too quickly. This approach allows for the underlying grief and pain to be fully acknowledged and worked through.
3. How Therapists Work with Resistance:
As therapists, it’s important to recognize when our own parts might be getting activated by a client’s resistance. By doing a "U-turn" and connecting with our own self-energy, we can better support our clients in their healing journey.
Learn more about Virginia at www.theresista...
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[@theresistancetherapist]

Thanks for the opportunity to connect and explore resistance through the absolutely vital lens of trauma! 🙏🏻🌵

[@kanguruster]

Another excellent episode of Going Inside! I found the discussion of covert resistance enlightening. I look back at a certain time in therapy (EMDR, not IFS) that I can now recognise as not coming from Self, i.e. it felt "a bit off", with my personal equivalent of "I love therapy, I want to know myself and feel my trauma" surprising mySelf into wondering "where does _THAT_ come from?!" The what is covert resistance and the why might have been to keep self-sabotage and feelings of unworthiness a secret. Thanks for sharing such an open and informed discussion.

[@theresistancetherapist]

Thanks for the feedback, and so glad you enjoyed the episode! I’m glad that the covert/overt resistance framework was helpful. 🙌🏻

[@thomasdunstan3837]

What do mean 'resistance' therapy? How could you be a therapist of any kind and not be aware of resistance. It's part of the process.

[@theresistancetherapist]

Thanks for the question! And I couldn’t agree with you more, which is actually the whole reason for this project. I chose the name The Resistance Therapist because I specialize in supporting people on their health & wellness journey as well as the professionals in those fields to work with resistance as an ally rather than as a barrier or problem. (And no, it’s not a particular kind of therapy, but a framework that can be applied on all kinds of health & wellness professions.) In my experience as a client and professional myself, it’s less an issue of awareness of resistance and more one of how it’s actually approached. I always say that if you’re already a resistance wizard and feel comfortable and confident working with your own or others’ resistance, then what I offer will likely only confirm what you already know. Which I think is great!

[@thomasdunstan3837]

@@theresistancetherapist I don't see how you could be therapist and not know how to approach/deal with resistance. They'd run into it every day. It'd be like not knowing how to approach anger or childhood issues.

[@theresistancetherapist]

💯I totally agree with you - I think it’s actually the foundation of therapy. However, there are many different approaches to resistance, most of which (in my personal and professional experience) aren’t very effective or supportive for the client. And as a supervisor, I can tell you that many people aren’t given any specific training around resistance - the training often focuses on skills that are used once the client is all in on the process. Just like with anger or childhood trauma, there is no one way to work with resistance and there are a ton of nuances. As therapists, we continue honing our training for as long as we are in the field, so I might take the different courses on hope to work with anger that give three totally different frameworks. Also - I support other health and wellness professionals, too, who largely aren’t trained at all to work collaboratively with resistance. It’s usually framed as a problem to be pushed through or gotten over. Hopefully this along with the content of the video clarifies things a bit! And again, there are plenty of people who are great at navigating resistance, and I’m glad that there are.