Metaphors of a Bodily Mind

Patients' metaphors in analysis may allow access to ineffable experiences. This is understandable, since the mind is a bodily mind, and language is a fully embodied function of this mind.That is, both are dependent for their existence upon the physical body. The ontogenic accumulation of percei...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 2001, Vol.49 (2), p.535-568
Main Author: Rizzuto, Ana-María
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Imagery (Psychotherapy)
Language
Language Development
Male
Mental representation
Metaphor
Metaphors
Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalytic cure
Psychoanalytic Therapy - methods
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychotherapeutic Processes
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Summary:Patients' metaphors in analysis may allow access to ineffable experiences. This is understandable, since the mind is a bodily mind, and language is a fully embodied function of this mind.That is, both are dependent for their existence upon the physical body. The ontogenic accumulation of perceived sensory impressions and affective processes far exceeds what can be put into words. Research in cognitive psychology suggests that the active mind functions in such a manner that later perceptions are organized by means of earlier ones. However, since the mind can know only its own representations, it inhabits two ever unknown realms: the external world itself, and the domain of internal unconscious processes that sustain the mind's functions. As a result, the world and the self we know are constructed by the mediation of our bodies. In language also, the active mode by which we perceive, process, and feel makes our understanding of words dependent on previous experience. The fact that the limbic system is activated immediately in the moment of processing experience means that all modalities of representation include an affective valuation.This inevitable processing of information through the mediation of affectively valued bodily perceptions gives the metaphorical function—the human capacity to organize experience and life in metaphoric ways—the ability to create linguistic metaphors that can capture and express otherwise inexpressible psychic experiences. This manner of understanding metaphor has implications for psychoanalytic technique.
ISSN:0003-0651
1941-2460
DOI:10.1177/00030651010490021601