The idea of interpersonal flexibility is applied to facilitate changes in current relationships that are causing the client distress. The therapist and client need to consider whether the interpersonal schema which describes the relationship is based in an inaccurate or unnecessary assumption about the nature of the power balance. The assumed power balance may be based in past traumas or old ways of relating that may not be necessary or adaptive for the current relationship.
The video segment on the next page depicts a provider working with a client on understanding the power balance in an important relationship. The therapist helps the client identify the actual power balance in the relationship and then proposes an alternative interpersonal schema that will support the relationship in a positive and respectful way.
