Listening With the Body: An Exploration in the Countertransference

Abstract

ABSTRACT. This paper describes a specific but little‐discussed manifestation of the countertransference: namely the spontaneous arousal of physical feelings in the therapist. It considers three questions arising from this phenomenon: (1) Are they meaningless bodily sensations or evidence of unconscious communication from the patient? (2) If the latter, do they have any therapeutic relevance? (3) What sort of psychological mechanism might enable such messages to be transmitted?