View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Hope and Despair in the Therapeutic Relationship: The Paradoxical Power of Letting Go.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Hope and Despair in the Therapeutic Relationship: The Paradoxical Power of Letting Go.
Authors: Rodin, Gary (AUTHOR)
Source: Psychoanalytic Dialogues. Jul/Aug2022, Vol. 32 Issue 4, p376-380. 5p.
Subjects: Despair, Patient-professional relations, Power (Social sciences), Early memories, Hope
Abstract: Christian Sell describes a therapeutic process with a patient who struggled with feelings of hopelessness and despair. He reveals how unbearable he initially found the passivity of the patient to be and how tormented he felt by the sessions at that time. He suggests that helping the patient to find hope depended upon the therapist's resistance to the patient's despair and maintenance of a therapeutic posture intermediate between activity and passivity. It is proposed here that empathic immersion in despair, rather than resistance to it, may be an essential therapeutic factor in this circumstance. This view is consistent with Sell's experience that "letting go" of his position was paradoxically necessary in order for him to overcome his feelings of powerlessness. Hope then seemed to emerge from the deep sense of connection in a shared experience, rather than from resistance to it. This may have been what allowed the patient to reveal vivid and terrifying childhood memories, to join with the therapist in a fluid process of creative imagination, and for the shared task of reclaiming a life to begin. Relationality, rather than resistance, is sometimes what is needed in order for the light to come in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Psychoanalytic Dialogues is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: pbh
DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
An: 159375329
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Hope and Despair in the Therapeutic Relationship: The Paradoxical Power of Letting Go.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rodin%2C+Gary%22">Rodin, Gary</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Psychoanalytic+Dialogues%22">Psychoanalytic Dialogues</searchLink>. Jul/Aug2022, Vol. 32 Issue 4, p376-380. 5p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Despair%22">Despair</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Patient-professional+relations%22">Patient-professional relations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Power+%28Social+sciences%29%22">Power (Social sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Early+memories%22">Early memories</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hope%22">Hope</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Christian Sell describes a therapeutic process with a patient who struggled with feelings of hopelessness and despair. He reveals how unbearable he initially found the passivity of the patient to be and how tormented he felt by the sessions at that time. He suggests that helping the patient to find hope depended upon the therapist's resistance to the patient's despair and maintenance of a therapeutic posture intermediate between activity and passivity. It is proposed here that empathic immersion in despair, rather than resistance to it, may be an essential therapeutic factor in this circumstance. This view is consistent with Sell's experience that "letting go" of his position was paradoxically necessary in order for him to overcome his feelings of powerlessness. Hope then seemed to emerge from the deep sense of connection in a shared experience, rather than from resistance to it. This may have been what allowed the patient to reveal vivid and terrifying childhood memories, to join with the therapist in a fluid process of creative imagination, and for the shared task of reclaiming a life to begin. Relationality, rather than resistance, is sometimes what is needed in order for the light to come in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Psychoanalytic Dialogues is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=159375329
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/10481885.2022.2088207
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 5
        StartPage: 376
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Despair
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Patient-professional relations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Power (Social sciences)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Early memories
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hope
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Hope and Despair in the Therapeutic Relationship: The Paradoxical Power of Letting Go.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Rodin, Gary
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: Jul/Aug2022
              Type: published
              Y: 2022
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 10481885
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 32
            – Type: issue
              Value: 4
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Psychoanalytic Dialogues
              Type: main
ResultId 1