The analyst's embodied attunement and participation arises within an embodied analytic relationsh... more The analyst's embodied attunement and participation arises within an embodied analytic relationship. Understanding this "deep structure" of the interaction and attention to this level of interaction opens up new modes of engagement and therapeutic action. The importance of embodied attunement is supported by recent research and theories that the developing mind is shared and dialogical through bodily communication, by rhythms of cadence, tone, intensity, and movement. The analyst's embodied awareness of two bodies together and their interpersonal rhythm is the "tool" used to gauge the pulse, vitality of connection, and particular rhythmic qualities of a uniquely shared world. This provides a read on the most elemental way the dyad shares emotional experience (or fails to). The analyst's embodied participation is interpretation in another mode. Clinical examples illustrate how embodied attunement and intentional participation work in the session, and their therapeutic effect. Failures of attunement are also discussed in terms of how the analyst recognizes these failures and his internal process of reattunement.
The author explores a fundamental role of the analyst as improvisational accompanist. This role r... more The author explores a fundamental role of the analyst as improvisational accompanist. This role requires a dedicated attention to the shared rhythmic dimension of the interaction, a mode of psychoanalytic attention of embodied self-awareness and sensitivity-that is, embodied attunement to the pulse of the interaction. Directed action follows by providing various forms of accompaniment that depend on the nature of the patient's needs and emotional state. By refining our accompaniment to meet clinical situations and challenges, we enlarge the range of analytic engagement. Using examples from jazz, the way the rhythm section finds the right form of accompaniment to support the soloist's creativity and unique voice, the analyst similarly accompanies his or her patient, providing a temporal framework, a pulse that affirms emotionally shared states, recognition, differentiation, and creative expression. Various forms of analytic accompaniment include steady and present beat, an unobtrusive and loose presence, an interactive and conversational presence, or disruptive rhythms. From experiences of solid support and recognition, accompaniment can fuel the patient's improvisations, allowing him to move away from the analyst and create a clearer differentiated voice. As the patient separates, he ventures out into new or difficult territory, the analyst's presence is there following. Accompany (v.) early 15c. "to be in company with," "take as a companion." Musical meaning "play or sing along with." ANALYST AS IMPROVISATIONAL ACCOMPANIST While listening to a jazz quartet, the drummer laying down a pulse for the group to share and the soloist to improvise, one feels the beauty of the drummer's supportive role: the responsive flexibility of his accompanying work to create a collective pulse for shared emotional experience. Small jazz ensemble performance provides a musical metaphor for an important aspect of analytic engagement, to be appreciated and studied. Accompaniment is an integral role in this musical fabric, analogous to the analyst as improvisational accompanist. As the jazz rhythm section lays down vitalizing accompaniment for the soloist to "say something." the analyst similarly accompanies her patient, providing a temporal framework, a pulse that affirms emotionally shared states, recognition, differentiation, and creative expression. Pulse is not simply "beat", but a three-I am very grateful to Sam Klein-Markman and John Schott for their insights into jazz communication and improvisation.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Dec 1, 2017
Analyst and patient occasionally arrive at moments of heightened meaning and aliveness. These mom... more Analyst and patient occasionally arrive at moments of heightened meaning and aliveness. These moments can be transformative and lead to psychic change in the patient. They give life and arouse hope, and feel "real" in a new way, though often entailing emotional turbulence. Specific internal work must be done by the analyst to allow for and foster these experiences. This involves a kind of mourning process in the analyst that allows for "presence" and "availability" as described by Gabriel Marcel, and for the "at-one-ment" described by Bion. These transforming moments can be viewed in an aesthetic realm, along the lines of Keats's "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." This embodies the analytic value of emotional truth. These moments are shared and their emergence is an intersubjective creation. Clinical illustrations show how the internal work of mourning by the analyst through directed introspection allows for presence and availability, and then for shared moments of beauty with the patient.
The author discusses the role of metaphor in organizing the analyst's experience and contrast... more The author discusses the role of metaphor in organizing the analyst's experience and contrasts the metaphor of “polyrhythmic weave” offered by Steven Knoblauch, with a musical metaphor rooted in dissonance, uncertainty, and a decentered analytic presence. The author discusses the advantage of each metaphor and how they might be complementary.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Oct 1, 2020
The analyst's embodied attunement and participation arises within an embodied analytic relationsh... more The analyst's embodied attunement and participation arises within an embodied analytic relationship. Understanding this "deep structure" of the interaction and attention to this level of interaction opens up new modes of engagement and therapeutic action. The importance of embodied attunement is supported by recent research and theories that the developing mind is shared and dialogical through bodily communication, by rhythms of cadence, tone, intensity, and movement. The analyst's embodied awareness of two bodies together and their interpersonal rhythm is the "tool" used to gauge the pulse, vitality of connection, and particular rhythmic qualities of a uniquely shared world. This provides a read on the most elemental way the dyad shares emotional experience (or fails to). The analyst's embodied participation is interpretation in another mode. Clinical examples illustrate how embodied attunement and intentional participation work in the session, and their therapeutic effect. Failures of attunement are also discussed in terms of how the analyst recognizes these failures and his internal process of reattunement.
The commentaries of Knoblauch, Music, and Blum (this issue) provide a fruitful interplay with the... more The commentaries of Knoblauch, Music, and Blum (this issue) provide a fruitful interplay with the text, by considering embodied accompaniment in containing trauma and dissociation, and how it might play out in the supervisory experience. The commentaries all, in different ways, consider the way musical metaphors work. Their responses encouraged me to clarify and deepen the idea of musical accompaniment as metaphor, so that a restatement of some ideas seems warranted. For example, while appreciating the communicative force of a musical metaphor in calling up this embodied rhythmic domain of our work and its various forms, I have also come to see the power of analytic accompaniment and its mutative impact as musical in itself. This perspective helps explain the therapeutic, transformative power of improvisational accompaniment–because it works in the tangible register of music.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
224 not analytic, as a process never developed. His assessment might have been useful had he expl... more 224 not analytic, as a process never developed. His assessment might have been useful had he explained his thinking and been open to having a discussion. Instead I worked out the problem with another supervisor. The Clinical Moments Project appears to have facilitated supervisory collaborative discussions about clinical work and theory. At its best, this book is a collection of very useful discussions.
The author explores a fundamental role of the analyst as improvisational accompanist. This role r... more The author explores a fundamental role of the analyst as improvisational accompanist. This role requires a dedicated attention to the shared rhythmic dimension of the interaction, a mode of psychoanalytic attention of embodied self-awareness and sensitivity-that is, embodied attunement to the pulse of the interaction. Directed action follows by providing various forms of accompaniment that depend on the nature of the patient's needs and emotional state. By refining our accompaniment to meet clinical situations and challenges, we enlarge the range of analytic engagement. Using examples from jazz, the way the rhythm section finds the right form of accompaniment to support the soloist's creativity and unique voice, the analyst similarly accompanies his or her patient, providing a temporal framework, a pulse that affirms emotionally shared states, recognition, differentiation, and creative expression. Various forms of analytic accompaniment include steady and present beat, an unobtrusive and loose presence, an interactive and conversational presence, or disruptive rhythms. From experiences of solid support and recognition, accompaniment can fuel the patient's improvisations, allowing him to move away from the analyst and create a clearer differentiated voice. As the patient separates, he ventures out into new or difficult territory, the analyst's presence is there following. Accompany (v.) early 15c. "to be in company with," "take as a companion." Musical meaning "play or sing along with." ANALYST AS IMPROVISATIONAL ACCOMPANIST While listening to a jazz quartet, the drummer laying down a pulse for the group to share and the soloist to improvise, one feels the beauty of the drummer's supportive role: the responsive flexibility of his accompanying work to create a collective pulse for shared emotional experience. Small jazz ensemble performance provides a musical metaphor for an important aspect of analytic engagement, to be appreciated and studied. Accompaniment is an integral role in this musical fabric, analogous to the analyst as improvisational accompanist. As the jazz rhythm section lays down vitalizing accompaniment for the soloist to "say something." the analyst similarly accompanies her patient, providing a temporal framework, a pulse that affirms emotionally shared states, recognition, differentiation, and creative expression. Pulse is not simply "beat", but a three-I am very grateful to Sam Klein-Markman and John Schott for their insights into jazz communication and improvisation.
The analyst's embodied attunement and participation arises within an embodied analytic relationsh... more The analyst's embodied attunement and participation arises within an embodied analytic relationship. Understanding this "deep structure" of the interaction and attention to this level of interaction opens up new modes of engagement and therapeutic action. The importance of embodied attunement is supported by recent research and theories that the developing mind is shared and dialogical through bodily communication, by rhythms of cadence, tone, intensity, and movement. The analyst's embodied awareness of two bodies together and their interpersonal rhythm is the "tool" used to gauge the pulse, vitality of connection, and particular rhythmic qualities of a uniquely shared world. This provides a read on the most elemental way the dyad shares emotional experience (or fails to). The analyst's embodied participation is interpretation in another mode. Clinical examples illustrate how embodied attunement and intentional participation work in the session, and their therapeutic effect. Failures of attunement are also discussed in terms of how the analyst recognizes these failures and his internal process of reattunement.
The author explores a fundamental role of the analyst as improvisational accompanist. This role r... more The author explores a fundamental role of the analyst as improvisational accompanist. This role requires a dedicated attention to the shared rhythmic dimension of the interaction, a mode of psychoanalytic attention of embodied self-awareness and sensitivity-that is, embodied attunement to the pulse of the interaction. Directed action follows by providing various forms of accompaniment that depend on the nature of the patient's needs and emotional state. By refining our accompaniment to meet clinical situations and challenges, we enlarge the range of analytic engagement. Using examples from jazz, the way the rhythm section finds the right form of accompaniment to support the soloist's creativity and unique voice, the analyst similarly accompanies his or her patient, providing a temporal framework, a pulse that affirms emotionally shared states, recognition, differentiation, and creative expression. Various forms of analytic accompaniment include steady and present beat, an unobtrusive and loose presence, an interactive and conversational presence, or disruptive rhythms. From experiences of solid support and recognition, accompaniment can fuel the patient's improvisations, allowing him to move away from the analyst and create a clearer differentiated voice. As the patient separates, he ventures out into new or difficult territory, the analyst's presence is there following. Accompany (v.) early 15c. "to be in company with," "take as a companion." Musical meaning "play or sing along with." ANALYST AS IMPROVISATIONAL ACCOMPANIST While listening to a jazz quartet, the drummer laying down a pulse for the group to share and the soloist to improvise, one feels the beauty of the drummer's supportive role: the responsive flexibility of his accompanying work to create a collective pulse for shared emotional experience. Small jazz ensemble performance provides a musical metaphor for an important aspect of analytic engagement, to be appreciated and studied. Accompaniment is an integral role in this musical fabric, analogous to the analyst as improvisational accompanist. As the jazz rhythm section lays down vitalizing accompaniment for the soloist to "say something." the analyst similarly accompanies her patient, providing a temporal framework, a pulse that affirms emotionally shared states, recognition, differentiation, and creative expression. Pulse is not simply "beat", but a three-I am very grateful to Sam Klein-Markman and John Schott for their insights into jazz communication and improvisation.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Dec 1, 2017
Analyst and patient occasionally arrive at moments of heightened meaning and aliveness. These mom... more Analyst and patient occasionally arrive at moments of heightened meaning and aliveness. These moments can be transformative and lead to psychic change in the patient. They give life and arouse hope, and feel "real" in a new way, though often entailing emotional turbulence. Specific internal work must be done by the analyst to allow for and foster these experiences. This involves a kind of mourning process in the analyst that allows for "presence" and "availability" as described by Gabriel Marcel, and for the "at-one-ment" described by Bion. These transforming moments can be viewed in an aesthetic realm, along the lines of Keats's "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." This embodies the analytic value of emotional truth. These moments are shared and their emergence is an intersubjective creation. Clinical illustrations show how the internal work of mourning by the analyst through directed introspection allows for presence and availability, and then for shared moments of beauty with the patient.
The author discusses the role of metaphor in organizing the analyst's experience and contrast... more The author discusses the role of metaphor in organizing the analyst's experience and contrasts the metaphor of “polyrhythmic weave” offered by Steven Knoblauch, with a musical metaphor rooted in dissonance, uncertainty, and a decentered analytic presence. The author discusses the advantage of each metaphor and how they might be complementary.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Oct 1, 2020
The analyst's embodied attunement and participation arises within an embodied analytic relationsh... more The analyst's embodied attunement and participation arises within an embodied analytic relationship. Understanding this "deep structure" of the interaction and attention to this level of interaction opens up new modes of engagement and therapeutic action. The importance of embodied attunement is supported by recent research and theories that the developing mind is shared and dialogical through bodily communication, by rhythms of cadence, tone, intensity, and movement. The analyst's embodied awareness of two bodies together and their interpersonal rhythm is the "tool" used to gauge the pulse, vitality of connection, and particular rhythmic qualities of a uniquely shared world. This provides a read on the most elemental way the dyad shares emotional experience (or fails to). The analyst's embodied participation is interpretation in another mode. Clinical examples illustrate how embodied attunement and intentional participation work in the session, and their therapeutic effect. Failures of attunement are also discussed in terms of how the analyst recognizes these failures and his internal process of reattunement.
The commentaries of Knoblauch, Music, and Blum (this issue) provide a fruitful interplay with the... more The commentaries of Knoblauch, Music, and Blum (this issue) provide a fruitful interplay with the text, by considering embodied accompaniment in containing trauma and dissociation, and how it might play out in the supervisory experience. The commentaries all, in different ways, consider the way musical metaphors work. Their responses encouraged me to clarify and deepen the idea of musical accompaniment as metaphor, so that a restatement of some ideas seems warranted. For example, while appreciating the communicative force of a musical metaphor in calling up this embodied rhythmic domain of our work and its various forms, I have also come to see the power of analytic accompaniment and its mutative impact as musical in itself. This perspective helps explain the therapeutic, transformative power of improvisational accompaniment–because it works in the tangible register of music.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
224 not analytic, as a process never developed. His assessment might have been useful had he expl... more 224 not analytic, as a process never developed. His assessment might have been useful had he explained his thinking and been open to having a discussion. Instead I worked out the problem with another supervisor. The Clinical Moments Project appears to have facilitated supervisory collaborative discussions about clinical work and theory. At its best, this book is a collection of very useful discussions.
The author explores a fundamental role of the analyst as improvisational accompanist. This role r... more The author explores a fundamental role of the analyst as improvisational accompanist. This role requires a dedicated attention to the shared rhythmic dimension of the interaction, a mode of psychoanalytic attention of embodied self-awareness and sensitivity-that is, embodied attunement to the pulse of the interaction. Directed action follows by providing various forms of accompaniment that depend on the nature of the patient's needs and emotional state. By refining our accompaniment to meet clinical situations and challenges, we enlarge the range of analytic engagement. Using examples from jazz, the way the rhythm section finds the right form of accompaniment to support the soloist's creativity and unique voice, the analyst similarly accompanies his or her patient, providing a temporal framework, a pulse that affirms emotionally shared states, recognition, differentiation, and creative expression. Various forms of analytic accompaniment include steady and present beat, an unobtrusive and loose presence, an interactive and conversational presence, or disruptive rhythms. From experiences of solid support and recognition, accompaniment can fuel the patient's improvisations, allowing him to move away from the analyst and create a clearer differentiated voice. As the patient separates, he ventures out into new or difficult territory, the analyst's presence is there following. Accompany (v.) early 15c. "to be in company with," "take as a companion." Musical meaning "play or sing along with." ANALYST AS IMPROVISATIONAL ACCOMPANIST While listening to a jazz quartet, the drummer laying down a pulse for the group to share and the soloist to improvise, one feels the beauty of the drummer's supportive role: the responsive flexibility of his accompanying work to create a collective pulse for shared emotional experience. Small jazz ensemble performance provides a musical metaphor for an important aspect of analytic engagement, to be appreciated and studied. Accompaniment is an integral role in this musical fabric, analogous to the analyst as improvisational accompanist. As the jazz rhythm section lays down vitalizing accompaniment for the soloist to "say something." the analyst similarly accompanies her patient, providing a temporal framework, a pulse that affirms emotionally shared states, recognition, differentiation, and creative expression. Pulse is not simply "beat", but a three-I am very grateful to Sam Klein-Markman and John Schott for their insights into jazz communication and improvisation.
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