Dysregulated Rhythms and the “Grip” of the Context: A Discussion of the Paper “Poison Cookies” by Katherine Oram

Two moments from the clinical narrative under discussion are used to highlight the critical impact of attention to timing not in terms of when and what to say, but rather as a an ongoing source of emotional meaning emerging on implicit dimensions of rhythm and affective tone occurring in the clinical interaction. Meanings having to do with different forms of power including fear of psychic annihilation, agency, and aggression expressed within sado-masochistic dynamics are demonstrated to be scaffolded and coming into formation on these implicit levels. Alternatively, Merleu-Ponty's concept of Urdoxa as a grip on context is introduced to highlight how the analyst's use of timing to violate an expectation for nonresponsiveness or impingement creates an experience of distance between enactment and reflection, allowing space for re-membering as a form of representation. Here the creation of space through timing serves not just a representational function, but also a way for affective self and interactive regulation to emerge in an interaction as scaffolding for experiences of predictability (i.e., continuity and coherence) and vitality in self and other.