Psychodynamic nonverbal communication in psychotherapy

Abstract:

Communication process involves both verbal and non-verbal elements. Nonverbal communication plays an especially important role in psychotherapy, because nonverbal communication is said to be the language of emotions. It modifies patient’s verbal expression, providing further insight into the patient’s emotional state. Inconsistency between nonverbal and verbal clues may indicate patient’s denial and expose his or her true emotions. New knowledge in the field of neurobiology of human development has had enormous implications for psychotherapy. Recent discoveries have confirmed the existence of mirror neurons, explaining the neurobiology of affect regulation, highlighting the role of implicit/procedural memory in attachment processes, and confirming that gene-environment interactions lead to structural changes in the brain during psychotherapy process.

Key words:
communication; neurosciences; nonverbal communication; psychotherapy