Chapter 7 Nonverbal Implicit Dimensions of Interaction: A Discussion of Hazel Ipp's Clinical Case

The purpose of this case discussion is to demonstrate the clinical value of attention to nonverbal implicit dimensions of interaction. First, I present a brief review of key assumptions that have been presented toward a theory of interaction for psychoanalysis (Beebe, 1999; Rustin, 1999; Sorter, 1999; see Knoblauch et al., in press; Beebe et al., in press a, b; for a detailed elaboration of our perspectives). Then, I describe three nodal points in Ipp's description of her treatment of the patient Gayle. I am intentionally placing the verbal level of communication in the background and pulling the interaction sequence into the foreground to demonstrate how meanings are communicated at that level of exchange. I do this by identifying the micro-shifting of expectations for interaction and accompanying affective cues across the turn taking patterns of Hazel Ipp and her patient Gayle.

Sorter (1999) distinguishes differences in the adult theories of intersubjectivity authored by Benjamin (1988, 1995, 1998), Ogden (1982, 1994, 1997), and Stolorow and his collaborators (Atwood and Stolorow, 1984, Stolorow, Brandchaft, and Atwood, 1987; Stolorow and Atwood, 1992) in terms of (1) philosophical and constructivist assumptions, (2) intrapsychic model, (3) conceptualization of interaction in the dyad, and (4) privileged moment of the interactive experience. Her analysis demonstrates the general emphasis in each of these models