Introduction: The Body in Relationship

First of all, studying the body, something that belongs so deeply to us, that determines who we are and provides evidence of our needs and desires, requires us to explore what we know about ourselves through our body, our corporeality, and, then, the daily interactions that we entertain with other bodies (i.e., the relationship).

As psychologists, we must consider the body from a different perspective than the medical one. The latter, as a matter of fact, is more interested in the body from an anatomical and organic point of view, and in the dysfunctional realities of the body and bodies that medicine defines as diseases; that is, the körper rather than the lieb, as Galimberti would say (2013). Medicine, in particular, focuses on the biological body, whereas, from a psychological point of view, the focus is on the body in relation, the psyche, the breath of life, intentionality, thought, language, and behavior. In sum, it focuses on the body in relation, the subjectivity that arises from the initial mother–child relationship and from the social relationships that the human body faces in its path of maturation; and on how being directly involved in these contributes to changes and adaptations.

In this issue the body is explored in relation to sports activities, the body as the site of the individual relational mind and the family, and as a starting point for a symbolic elaboration of dreams and oneiric themes as they appear in dreams. The body is also the condition for the mind to have a healthy counterpart, which we commonly think of as the ideal of living in a healthy body. This image of the body and subjective perceptions has been famously represented in the Latin expression mens sana in corpore sano.

The body in relation needs to be thought, primarily, in its affective development and in its psychological implications, problems that are most evident when studying body image disorders in anorexia, with particular attention to dysmorphophobic manifestations and in relation to the rejection of food.

From neurology we know that, in the first years of life, the body schema is formed in the parietal cortex following both proprioceptive and exteroceptive afferences. This schema is a function of mental images, triggered by tactile, kinesthetic, and visual perceptions in order to develop the awareness of a spatial image of the body (Dalla Ragione & Mencarelli, 2012).

Head (1920) defined the body schema as the model or representation of one’s own body, which enables one to evaluate postures and movements. This experience is considered as the result of the integration of previous sensory experiences with current sensations; it is from this experience that a reference prototype is originated in order to enable one to move in space and to recognize the parts of one’s body in all the situations experienced.

Jean Le Boulch (1997) defines the body schema in terms of “consciousness, intuition, immediate knowledge that one has of one’s body in a static and dynamic situation, in relation to the different segments between them and in the relationship between them, the space and the objects that surround it” (quoted in Dalla Ragione & Mencarelli, 2012, p. 98).

Within this definition, it seems appropriate to highlight both the neurological component, representing the nervous structure that allows individuals to perceive the different parts of their body, and the functional component to which we owe the constant correlation of the body with perceptions of the outside world (Dalla Ragione & Mencarelli 2012).

The organization of the body schema is strongly influenced by the perceptive activity (proprioceptive and exteroceptive). The former consists of the exact interpretation of the sensations coming from the various body segments, it informs us about the position that our body takes in space; the latter allows one to understand the information coming from the outside world and enacts the appropriate motor movement. It follows that individuals become able to organize their own body schema when they begin to feel what is happening in their body and to respond with the motor action appropriate to the dynamic activity (Dalla Ragione & Mencarelli 2012).

Ester Bick (1968) suggested that, in their primitive formation, the parts of the psyche cannot be distinguished from the parts of the body. They are perceived as untied and held together thanks to the skin that functions as a peripheral limit.

As mentioned above, in the concept of body schema, neurological and somatic aspects converge, and can therefore be considered a model of one’s own body of an exclusively perceptive type. This is an aspect of the perceptive type that should not be confused with that of body image.

Indeed, the expression “human body image” can be understood as the mental framework in which we refer to our body (i.e., the way in which the body appears to ourselves) (Schilder, 1950); we receive sensations, we have tactile, painful, thermal experiences; sensations indicating the deformation of muscles connected by muscular innervations; and sensation of a visceral origin. In addition, there is also the immediate experience of corporeal unity, which would seem to be something more than a perception: defined schema of our body or body schema; or, following Head’s (1920) conceptions (which underlines the knowledge of the position of the body), a postural model of the body.

Schilder believes that the body image is realized both on the basis of sensations (kinesthetic, tactile, etc.) that constitute the body schema, and, above all, through the integration of these sensations with the existential and emotional experiences of the single subject.

That said, and to begin closing my first reflection on the body in relation, I would like to stress, once again, that the concept of body image should not be confused with that of a body schema, because the body image is a socio/emotional/cognitive-type model that includes personal experiences of one’s own body; unlike the body schema, in which a variation involves many muscular areas, the body image can be partial and refers only to specific aspects of one’s body. The body image is therefore a multidimensional construct characterized by the perceptions and valuations of the individuals regarding their own physical, relational, and organizational aspects.

The issue opens up with a contribution entitled: “Impairment of the Body Image: Perceptions and Subjective Evaluations in Adolescents and Young Adults,” which deals with the ways in which the body is considered, perceived, and evaluated, highlighting how over time the image of the ideal body has also changed in important ways. It explores the discrepancy between the real and ideal body and how individuals dissatisfied with their bodies develop negative feelings to the point of placing their own health at risk. This work reviews the main theories on body image and, for a clinical reflection, looks at disorders related to it, including body dysmorphism.

This is followed by a work entitled: “Affective Development and Etiological Implication in Body Image Disorders and Anorexia: Reflections on BDD Manifestations and Refusal of Food in a Psychodynamic View.” The work examines the major phases of affective development and the ability to share affective states. It does so from a perspective that integrates the psychodynamic relational models and highlights the situations in which subjects tend to reject food.

The third article is entitled: “The Psychosomatic Relationship as a Symbolic Circular Communication: Subjective and Transgenerational Dreams” and deals with a study on the relationship between mind and body: two indissoluble aspects linked to one another since birth.

Starting from birth the body is the custodian of our emotional and memory experiences. This article also emphasizes that many families express their emotional experience through bodily symptoms, or through dreams, using bodily and cultural icons that shape the identity of the subject.

The following contribution is entitled: “The Deceiving Mirror: Altered Body Perception and Alexithymia in a Sport Group of Adolescents and Adults.” It deals with a reflection on the perception of the body in subjects who practice sports. It emphasizes that subjects who practice sports tend to achieve an idealized image of their own person. It highlights the role that can be given to the process of scanning time assiduously and precisely for the attainment of ever higher objectives. However, such precise control of the body and its potential can lead to a stereotyped mode of feeling and communicating emotions. If excessive, it can make the individual unable to recognize and express emotions, to the point of determining a sort of addiction.

The fifth article, “Healthy Lifestyle, Well-Being, Physical Activity, Sport, and Scholastic/Academic Performance: Interactions and Connections,” proposes a review of the literature that examines the influence of physical activity on cognitive activities and specifically investigates the influences it has on the school grades of students. The contribution highlights the significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance.

“‘Doubly Mother’: Heterologous Artificial Insemination Between Biological and Social Parenthood: A Single Case Study,” proposes a study on how the technique of heterologous fertilization enables infertile and/or same sex couples with a donor or gamete donor to access parenting. The child is therefore genetically connected to one partner only, whereas the bond with the other is social (i.e., without genetic connection). The study aims to explore this double access to parenthood and the relationship between the bodies of mothers and children. The results reveal the importance of using study techniques that include an in-depth exploration of phenomena, coherently with the specificities of these new forms of filiation.

The article “‘They’ve Always Been Good Mothers’: An Ethnographic Study of Early Childhood Intervention in Dublin” deals with an ethnographic study of early intervention in Dublin. The objective of this work is to overcome the heuristic separation between ethnography and a randomized controlled trial, illustrating how the strengths of both methods can be combined to counterbalance their respective theoretical and methodological fragilities. The author shows, through the analysis of ethnographic data, how the relationship between mothers enrolled in the early intervention program and the staff members is of primary importance for an effective realization of the program itself. Thus, ethnography emerges as a fundamental tool for evaluating effectiveness and not only as an exploratory method of relational dynamics within early intervention programs.

Next is the article “Ground-Breaking Potential of Argentine Recovered Companies in Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology,” a contribution that aims to contextualize the phenomenon of recovered companies from a historical, psychological, relational, and organizational point of view. Through field research, three levels of the recovery process are analyzed: personal identity and its significant relationships, the organizational structure (hierarchies, decision-making processes, economic management), and gender dynamics. The controlled production model from below is now a viable and reproducible option. However, critical issues remain, which can be summarized with the following dichotomies: inefficiency/self-exploitation; informality/bureaucratization; and isolation/subjection to the market.

The ninth article, entitled “Internet Addiction Disorder: Internet Gaming Disorder in a Nonclinical Sample of MOBA and MMORPG Videoplayers,” investigates two specific types of video games: Massive Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) and Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Games (MMORPGs). One of the objectives of the research is to investigate whether the subjects involved report high scores in various scales, which may lead to the presumption of an addiction. It highlights that the variable “video games theory” has an influence on some personality traits, as it pushes the players excessively to be more exposed to negative emotions, avoid significant relationships with parental figures and with other subjects, avoid socioemotional experiences, and, especially, come into contact with bizarre and culturally inconclusive thoughts.

The issue closes with “Origin and Destiny of Subjectivity: From Professional Roles to Treatment Processes, Through an Interpretation of The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.” This work reflects on a theme that is very relevant for care professions, with a particular focus on psychotherapy. It analyzes a literary text that clarifies how the identity of a professional role is formed, how it starts to mature, and to be codified, in order illustrate, more generally, the role of subjectivity and the birth and maturation of a professional care role. From another point of view, it analyses the risks associated with its rigid codification. The work aims to draw a comparison with some forms of construction of subjectivity that, over the centuries, have been at the basis of Western professional articulations.

After this presentation of the contributions, I believe it is useful to conclude this introduction with a brief reflection on the term “relationship.”

The relationship is at the basis of what psychologists call the birth of the psyche and of subjective and collective identity. It involves an exchange between subjects that goes beyond the everyday, direct or mediated, contact that people have with each other, one in which the exchange is, in most cases, an exchange of objects or experiences already finalized and controlled. However, in the relationship there is also an exchange that contaminates and determines a lasting change in the subjects’ lives; an exchange that, if it takes place in the early stages of life, we tend to consider as part of the developmental processes; if it happens among adults, we tend to call it mutual growth; in the psychological field, we call it relationship of care.

In this Introduction I was not able to elaborate further on the theme of relationship and care, hence I invite you to explore it in the articles in this issue. And, for further study, you can look at the text by Lo Coco and Lo Verso (2006) entitled The Relational Care.