paradoxical intention

n. A psychotherapeutic technique in which the client is encouraged to engage intentionally in a neurotic symptom or unwanted behavior in the belief that doing so will increase the client's awareness of the action and its consequences as well as its absurdity and so reduce the behavior's frequency or the anxiety associated with it. Thus a person who has difficulty sleeping may be instructed to go to bed and try to stay awake as long as possible, or a person who washes his or her hands in an obsessive way may be instructed to wash his or her hands much more than he/she already does.