The body in analysis: authentic movement and witnessing in analytic practice

Journal/Book: J Anal Psychol. 1998; 43: 108 Cowley Rd, Oxford OX4 1JF, Oxon, England. Blackwell Publ Ltd. 239-260.

Abstract: This paper will describe a form of active imagination called authentic movement, in which attention is given to the somatic unconscious. In authentic movement, patients are encouraged to focus inward and attend to any bodily sensations, images and feelings which may arise. In the process of focusing inward on one's bodily-felt experience, images, somatic memory and the accompanying feelings which arise are then available to be explored as a communication from the patient's unconscious. Authentic movement supports the individual in linking image with affect in that the individual re-experiences the somatic aspect of symbolization. What was previously conserved on the somatic level as unmentalized experience, can now begin to be taken up into the mind, thought about, and made available for analysis. In authentic movement; the analyst acts as a silent witness to the patient's explorations. The quiet focused attention of the witness helps to create a secure containing environment in which the person moving can experience a sense of feeling held and seen. The function of the witness is to hold the patient's experience in his own mind, particularly what is not yet mentalized. The witness utilizes his somatic countertransference, including any images, feelings and bodily responses which are generated by what is being communicated non-verbally, as a means of understanding and responding to the patient's material.

Note: Article WymanMcGinty W, 927 Stanford St, Santa Monica,CA 90403 USA

Keyword(s): authentic movement; somatic unconscious; somatic memory; unmentalized experience; witness; somatic countertransference

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