Counterwill is a

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...

term that means instinctive resistance to any sense of coercion. The term was first used by Austrian

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

Otto Rank and has been popularized by developmental psychologist Gordon Neufeld. In Neufeld's model, counterwill is a functional attribute of human behavior in that it protects personal boundaries and enables individuation. It has also been described as "will in reaction to the will of others".

References

{{Reflist Developmental psychology