NVR - Non Violent Resistence

Introduction: In this study an innovative and multimodal method in family therapy called NVR, Non-Violent Resistence, is examined. NVR is an approach developed by Haim Omer, professor in psychology at the University of Tel Aviv. This approach is described as coming from the ancient ideological roots used by Gandhi in the Nonviolent resistence of oppressive regimes. NVR advocates that the parents give up the desire to control their children. Instead parents should take control of their own lives by actively resisting any behaviors of the child that are damaging. Aims: To describe NVR that is a relatively unknown approach in Sweden and the nordic countries. What is the theoretical background of NVR, what does the method look like and what research has been made? How is working therapeutically with NVR described by practising family therapists? Method: Haim Omer was interviewed as a part of describing the theoretical background and the story of how NVR was translated into the scene of family therapy. A qualitative interviewstudy has been performed aiming to give som indications on how the ideas and proposed activities in NVR is transported into family therapists everyday practice. Result: The result of the interviewstudy indicates that NVR seems to be a useful approach in the family therapy context; the main thoughts such as parental prescence and the tools or activities in the parent manual are frequently mentioned. NVR was described as an approach which deals with preventing escalation in parent-child relationships in an effective way. Some criticism around the childfocus in NVR came up mainly due to the fact that NVR is directed towards the parents and that we don´t know enough about how the child is experiencing it