Games Counselor Trainees Play: Dealing with Trainee Resistance

Fear of personal change makes many beginning counselors resist the help and guidance offered them in the practicum setting, often leaving their supervisors perplexed and frustrated. Types of resistance used by counselors and examined in this article are submission, turning the tables, the “I'm no good” attitude, helplessness, and projection. Methods and techniques available to supervisors in dealing with such resistance and discussed here are interpretation, feedback, clarification, generalization, ignoring, role-playing, the alter-ego technique, and audiotaping.