ABSTRACT Adolescents in residential care often display persistent resistance to educational and therapeutic support, a challenge widely documented but insufficiently understood in terms of how and why youth eventually shift towards engagement. This study aimed to identify forms of resistance, contributing factors, professional responses and the conditions that generate the ‘Click’—a turning point towards engagement in which a young person moves from resistance to greater openness, trust and receptiveness to support. A qualitative descriptive design was implemented across two phases: exploration of resistance patterns and case analysis. The study examined 45 adolescents who experienced a Click. Data were collected in eight centres through semi‐structured interviews with professionals and analysed using mixed inductive–deductive categorical content analysis. Findings revealed four forms of resistance and contributing factors rooted in psychological vulnerability, adverse life history and tensions inherent to institutional living. Professional responses were relational, flexible and individualized rather than standardized. Six groups of factors facilitated the Click, with relational bonds as the main catalyst for change, followed by family dynamics, empowerment, external resources, therapeutic support and inter‐agency collaboration. These results advance understanding of change processes in residential care and position the Click as a relational mechanism linking resistance, motivation and developmental progress.
Villaba‐Biarnes et al. (Wed,) studied this question.