The Self and the Body: IV. The Body on the Couch

This is the fourth in a series of papers developing the psychoanalytic theory of the self in relation to previously discussed concepts of body, body self, and body image. This paper argues the role of the concept of the self in relation to concepts of body self and body image, in the analytic situation and process. The participation of both analyst and analysand are inherently bodily. Even empathy is dependent on affective attunements that are themselves bodily and are conjoined with other bodily mediated observational data. Other bodily expressions involve off- and on-couch enactments. Body characteristics of both participants shape aspects of the analytic relation, affecting both transference and real relation. Regressive experiences and arousal of anxiety on the couch are discussed in relation to issues of body image and body boundaries. Body-related, including psychosomatic, symptoms can arise in analysis, the nature and degree of disturbance reflecting aspects of body image and the integrity or vulnerability of the body self. Some bodily aspects, extrinsic to the analytic setting, can influence the analytic interaction: sex and gender, death or illness, age and aging, and physical size, among others. The impact of these

aspects of the bodily reality of both analyst and analysand on the analytic process are discussed.