Regulation of
the Self in the Therapeutic Environment (Commentary on Morioka) Philip J. Rosenbaum Yeshiva
University:
Ferkauf
School
of Graduate Psychology,USA
pp.
123-130
ABSTRACT: In Morioka’s paper
“Voices of the self”,
self-other relationships are viewed as potentially problematic as a
result of
the other’s lack of sensitivity to the tonus of a conversation. This
presents a
threat to an individual’s sense of self, and can possibly lead to a
breakdown
of the self-regulatory processes. One possible way of reconstructing
these
processes is through the therapeutic interaction. This relationship is
dependent upon the dialogical potential of the therapist to provide the
basis
of the relationship, so that the client is able to develop new
hierarchies. By
being attentive to the therapeutic relationship (as in interpersonal
therapy)
the therapist is able to help the individual reconstruct their
regulatory
mechanisms. This approach is compared to interpersonal psychoanalysis.
This
commentary is consistent with that of Eells and Stiles (2008) in its
focus of
bringing Morioka’s Japanese concepts into conversation with already
established
concepts of contemporary psychoanalysis.
Keywords:
dialogical
self;
regulation of self; interpersonal psychoanalysis; tonus of
conversation;
potential space (Winnicott)