Paradoxical interventions in behavior therapy

The use of paradoxical interventions in overcoming resistance to behavior therapy is discussed and a categorization and description of paradoxical interventions provided. Two factors are of primary importance in assessing the desirability of using paradoxical interventions: the individual's reactance potential and the perceived freedom of the problematic behavior. Paradoxical interventions themselves can be divided into two categories: compliance-based strategies and defiance-based strategies. Several types of paradoxical interventions are described and their use within therapy discussed, such as symptom prescription, restraining, reframing and utilization techniques. Preliminary research evidence attesting to the usefulness of some of these techniques is discussed.