Even though our bodies cannot be in the same place, focussing on body process is helpful in video mediated psychotherapy

ABSTRACT

This article is concerned with embodied process and the need to attend to evoked emotion in order to support the transference relationship. I look briefly at Lakoff and Johnson’s work on linguistic metaphor and the way, through embodied cognition, it shapes our conceptual world. Through the use of clinical vignettes, I illustrate how some of my clients use a combination of technology and embodied process to evoke strong emotional and physiological countertransference responses in me. One of the advantages of working online is that, given the chance, our clients use their whole environment to communicate. They access software and use hardware, including furniture, to let us know about their embodied experience. Some of what they use might not be so accessible during face-to-face sessions. I have found that paying attention to what they bring and the emotions aroused enhances our communication and the transference relationship.

KEYWORDS:

• Transference relationship
• embodied process
• video mediated
• metaphor
• evoked feelings

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carolyn Hart

Carolyn Hart is a child and adolescent psychotherapist who trained at the Tavistock Clinic, London. She has spent much of her career to date working with ‘looked after’ children. This experience kindled her interest in the biology of trauma and embodied cognition. In 2017 she completed a diploma in online therapy and has for several years been using remote ways of working in her independent practice.