About Me

The most frustrating moments in therapy - when clients resist, argue, or shut down completely - often reveal the greatest opportunities for breakthrough. Clifton Mitchell has spent over 30 years studying therapeutic resistance, transforming how practitioners understand and work with their most challenging clients through groundbreaking techniques that turn opposition into collaboration.

As Professor Emeritus at East Tennessee State University and international clinical trainer, Dr. Mitchell has delivered over 300 keynote presentations worldwide, teaching clinicians that resistance isn't the enemy of therapy - it's evidence that real change is attempting to happen. His book Effective Techniques for Dealing with Highly Resistant Clients revolutionised the field by showing practitioners how resistance emerges from therapist-client interactions rather than client pathology. His latest work on therapeutic priming demonstrates how subconscious programming can accelerate habit change and therapeutic outcomes.

Dr. Mitchell's expertise spans therapeutic resistance management, priming techniques for behavior change, legal and ethical issues in mental health, and the strategic use of language in therapy. His research-backed approach helps clinicians recognise when their own intervention style creates resistance, how to match influence methods to client readiness, and ways to use preconscious priming to enhance therapeutic gains. His entertaining, humor-filled training style makes complex concepts immediately applicable in clinical practice.

What sets his training apart is practical transformation. Mitchell doesn't just teach theory - he shows clinicians specific language patterns, timing strategies, and intervention sequences that dissolve resistance and create client engagement. His game-show format training on ethics and his priming techniques give practitioners tools they can implement immediately with measurable results.

For your practice, expect to gain specific techniques for preventing resistance before it starts, practical methods for working with oppositional clients, and priming strategies that accelerate therapeutic change. His approach particularly benefits clinicians who feel stuck with difficult clients or want to enhance their therapeutic effectiveness through scientific applications of influence and suggestion.

Quick Win: Mitchell's "influence hierarchy" teaches clinicians to match their intervention style to clients' current willingness to change - preventing resistance by starting with the least forceful approach and escalating only when clients are ready.

Qualifications

• Ph.D., Counseling Psychology, Indiana State University, 1992
• M.A., Clinical Psychology, Western Kentucky University, 1976
• B.A., Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1974
• Licensed Psychologist (retired)
• 30+ years of clinical training experience

Authored Books

• Priming: Programming the Mind for Habit Change and Success (2018, Mind Management Publishing)
• Effective Techniques for Dealing with Highly Resistant Clients (2007, 2nd edition, Clifton Mitchell Publishing)

Teaching & Roles

• International Clinical Trainer & Keynote Speaker, 1988–present
• Professor Emeritus, Department of Counseling, East Tennessee State University, 2015–present
• Professor & Clinical Mental Health Concentration Coordinator, East Tennessee State University, 1992–2015

Featured Publications

• Psychotherapy Networker, Psychotherapy in Australia, Journal of Personality Assessment
• Men's Health Today, Barron's Financial Weekly
• Research on therapeutic resistance, subliminal messaging, stress and coping, personality types

Speaking & Training

• Psychotherapy Networker Symposium (annual 2010–2020)
• Ericksonian Foundation Conferences (multiple years)
• International presentations: Australia (2014, 2016), Singapore (2013–2015), Canada (2014–2015)
• American Counseling Association, American Mental Health Counselors Association conferences

Ready to transform your most challenging therapeutic relationships? Discover how Dr. Mitchell's resistance management techniques can turn your most difficult clients into your greatest success stories.