The Distant Personality Release (DPR) process and the Resistant Client
Copyright 2002 by Matt Fox
As a substance abuse counselor who works with court mandated clients, I have often had clients who were resistant or hostile. I have found DPR to be effective in many of these situations. [Editors note: DPR is a process the Institute developed that removes issues from a client that could be considered part of their basic personality. We released this process to therapists in our Basic Whole-Hearted Healing Manual.] In fact, after using DPR in this fashion for about a year, it has become unusual for me to encounter resistant clients. I subscribe to the notion that most client resistance is a reaction to the attitude of the clinician, so I theorize that the practice of DPR may have eliminated areas of my energy field that the typical resistant client ‘hooks into.’ In addition, I find that my style of relating to the client has evolved into one of total acceptance of the client ‘where he is’, as opposed to where I think he should be. Finally, the resistant clients that I do encounter have features that may be typified as personality disorders. As I am thinking of it, it may be effective to try DPR on these clients’ attitudes towards authority figures.
One of my more analytical co-workers pointed out that the energetic connections that DPR works with may be the basis for the phenomenon of transference and counter-transference. If the connections are severed, it would become impossible to analyze the transference. It seems to me that the transference is the problem, and once the connection is severed, the client no longer projects onto the therapist or anyone else.
Case 1 - This client was a forty five year old white male with history of marijuana dependency and IV cocaine abuse. Early in his active addiction, he had fathered a son through a casual sexual relationship. He had no contact with the child and was under the impression that the son had been adopted. He also had another son by a previous marriage. The relationship with the second son was strained. Hoping to improve this relationship, the client “put his son into the God Box.” Not long afterwards, he was contacted by the mother of the first child, who stated that she had heard that the client was in recovery. Her stated intent was that the client contact the child and establish a relationship with him. The son, now seventeen years old, had developed a drug dependency of his own and was in treatment. The client responded that he would initiate a relationship after their mutual substance abuse issues had been resolved. Contact by the mother quickly escalated to harassment, including daily e-mails and phone calls several times a week. The client approached the therapist, asking how to resolve the situation. The therapist lead the client through the Distant Personality Release process, (DPR), followed by a round of EFT. At the next session, the client reported that the harassment had ended the day after using DPR. Contact with the mother was reduced to a comfortable level, usually one e-mail per week. The client eventually contacted the son and initiated a relationship.
Case 2 - The subject was a twenty-five year old female co-worker of the therapist. She was in a relationship with a divorced man who had a six year old son. The son resented the relationship and acted out against the subject by verbally abusing her, (“I hate you,” etc.), kicking and hitting her. The therapist lead the subject through a session of DPR, followed by a round of EFT. The subject reported that the child’s behavior changed dramatically overnight. She reported that they became friends and the child now stated that he loved her, and began to relate to her as a close friend.
Case 3 - The subject was a twenty-nine year old white male, returning from a lapse in sobriety. The client was experiencing marital discord due to having phone contact with an ex-girlfriend, who was also the mother of his first son. The client would call to speak to his son and his spouse would become incensed at the idea of the ex-girlfriend, resulting in an argument. After a session of DPR, the client reported that his spouse began to leave the room prior to the phone calls. The client states that all attempts to persuade his spouse to learn to accept the situation had failed, and that this new behavior was not the result of any communication on his part.
Case 4 - The subject was a forty year old male who complained that his spouse insisted that he drive and then criticized his driving incessantly. All attempts to resolve the situation failed. After a session of DPR, the behavior ceased. The subject reported that he pointed out the change of behavior, at which point the spouse resumed the criticism, having felt manipulated. However, over a period of time, the behavior stopped.
Case 5 - The writer attempted an experiment with DPR involving a men’s recovery group of four clients. Three of the four reported significant success. Later, one client reported that the behavior returned after he had informed his spouse of the intervention.
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