While Eric Berne viewed physical contact between therapist and client with considerable anxiety and disapproval, the use of touch as therapeutic invention has become common in the practice of transactional analysis. This article presents a theoretical discussion of some of the implications of intentional physical contact between therapist and client, with particular attention to ethical and transferential concerns. It is the central premise of this article that the use of touch can simultaneously evoke a rich and potentially disturbing mix of history, affect, and desire.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AblonS. L.BrownD.KhantzianE. J.MackJ. E. (1993). Human feelings: Explorations in affect development and meaning. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
2.
BernhardtP.MarcherL. (1995). The art of following structure: Exploring the roots of the Bodynamic system. Berkeley, CA: Unpublished manuscript.
3.
BoadellaD. (1986). What is biosynthesis?Energy and Character. 17(2), 1–23.
4.
BoadellaD. (1991). Organism and organisation: The place of somatic psychotherapy in society. Energy and Character, 22, 1–58.
5.
CassiusJ. (1975). Bodyscripts: Collected papers on physical aspects of transactional analysis. Memphis, TN: Author.
6.
CassiusJ. (Ed.). (1980). Horizons in bioenergetics: New dimensions in mind/body psychotherapy. Memphis, TN: Promethean Publications.
7.
Childs-GowellE.KinnamanP. (1978). Bodyscript blockbusting: A transactional approach to body awareness. San Francisco: Trans Pubs.
CornellW. F.OlioK. A. (1992). Consequences of childhood bodily abuse: A clinical model for affective interventions. Transactional Analysis Journal, 22, 131–143.
10.
DupontJ. (Ed.). (1988). The clinical diary of Sandor Ferenczi (BalintM.JacksonN. Z., Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
11.
FastI. (1992). The embodied mind: Toward a relational perspective. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 2(3), 389–410.
12.
FerencziS. (1930). The principle of relaxation and neocathexis. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 30, 428–446.
13.
GoodmanM.TeicherA. (1988). To touch or not to touch. Psychotherapy, 25, 492–500.
14.
GoodstoneE. (1993, March). Defining body therapy. The Advocate, 12.
15.
GreenspanM. (1995, July/August). Out of bounds. Common Boundary, 51.
16.
International Transactional Analysis Association. (1989). The ITAA statement of ethics. San Francisco, CA: Author.
17.
JohnsonS. M. (1985). Characterological transformation: The hard work miracle. New York: Norton.
18.
JohnsonS. M. (1987). Humanizing the narcissistic style. New York: Norton.
19.
KelemanS. (1979). Somatic reality. Berkeley, CA: Center Press.
20.
KelemanS. (1989). Patterns of distress: Emotional insults and human form. Berkeley, CA: Center Press.
21.
KepnerJ. I. (1987). Body process: A gestalt approach to working with the body in psychotherapy. New York: Gestalt Institute of Cleveland Press.
22.
KertayL.ReviereS. L. (1993). The use of touch in psychotherapy: Theoretical and ethical considerations. Psychotherapy, 30, 32–40.
23.
KramerS.AkhterS. (Eds.). (1992). When the body speaks: Psychological meanings and kinetic clues. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
24.
KruegerD. W. (1989). Body self and psychological self: A developmental and clinical integration of disorders of the self. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
25.
KrystalH.KrystalJ. H. (1988). Integration and self-healing: Affect, trauma, alexithymia. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
26.
LittleM. I. (1990). Psychotic anxieties and containment: A personal record of an analysis with Winnicott. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
27.
McDougallJ. (1989). Theaters of the body: A psychoanalytic approach to psychosomatic illness. New York: Norton.
28.
RachmanA. (1993). Ferenczi and sexuality. In AronL.HarrisA. (Eds.), The legacy of Sandor Ferenczi (pp. 81–100). Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
29.
ReichW. (1983). Children of the future. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
30.
ScharffJ. S.ScharffD. E. (1994). Object relations therapy of physical and sexual trauma. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
31.
ShapiroT.EmdeR. N. (Ed.). (1992). Affect: Psychoanalytic perspectives. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
32.
SmithE. (1985). The body in psychotherapy. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
33.
StolorowR. D.AtwoodG. E. (1991). The mind and the body. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 1(2), 181–195.
34.
WinnicottD. W. (1965). The maturational processes and the facilitating environment. Madison, WI: International Universities Press.
