Finding the Mind in the Body

Abstract

Embodiment represents a new theoretical development and innovative research perspective within cognitive science and the philosophy of mind, emphasizing the role that the body has in shaping the mind. However, the idea of mind and body being interconnected is an old one and has long roots within psychoanalysis, e.g., in character analytic tradition emphasizing the “how” of relating and talking as expressed in nonverbal behavior and body language. The article explores how the patient’s embodied, structuralized bearing and bodily appearance reveal relational messages. Through a case presentation, I illustrate how embodied affects and ways-of-being are actualized in the transference and can be captured through the embodied emotional response of the analyst. I argue that the concept of relational scenario emerges as fruitful for observing transference-countertransference dynamics.