Demonized body, demonized feelings: languaging the affective body

Abstract

As body/movement psychotherapists, we have numerous theories, techniques and skills for bringing the body into the therapeutic treatment. Drawing on a phenomenological perspective in which the client’s subjective experience holds primacy, this paper explores the transition from the client’s sublinguistic world of dynamic somatic/motoric experience to verbal, abstract language. The author proposes that the most therapeutically effective transition requires attention to the client’s affectivity from an experience-near point of view. Using a case study to illustrate, the author suggests that understanding and incorporating vitality affects in the experience-near therapeutic interaction offers a viable solution to transitioning from body to language.

Keywords:

• Experience-near
• sublinguistic
• vitality affect
• reverie