Compliance, defiance, and therapeutic paradox: guidelines for strategic use of paradoxical interventions

Strategies and tactics in apparent opposition to desired therapeutic goals are discussed in the context of brief problems-focused therapy. Two types of paradoxical intervention are differentiated: in one, change follows from attempted compliance with a therapeutic directive; in the other, change follows from defiance. Brehm's reactance theory and the Palo Alto brief therapy model offer guidelines for the use of such strategies.