| Popis: |
This chapter uses material from the psychoanalytic treatment of a child on the autistic spectrum to explain the concept of intersubjectivity as a process through which humans create meaning using a complex exchange of multiple psychic and somatic meanings. Humans are constantly making meaning in psychotherapy and in other more commonplace human interactions. Instead of the conventional view that meaning-making is a mental, or psychological, function, we propose meaning-making to be an exchange of “polysemic bundles” of meanings from all systems—both mental and physical—from each individual. We offer support for this conceptualization of intersubjectivity as central to human development by putting forward an open dynamic systems model of development through meaning-making. We explicate this view by presenting the scientific paradigm of the Face-to-Face Still-Face, which demonstrates the intersubjective process between infant and parent. Central to the argument of polysemic bundles are the features of nonverbal cues and implicit rhythms of bodily position and movement in the meaning-making process. We illustrate these features with a clinical case of a child on the autistic spectrum. In the case of ASD children, the challenges and rewards in establishing an intersubjective state highlight critical features of the concept of intersubjectivity. |
