Melissa, Bridger and Caleb discuss the concept of intersubjectivity in this first episode of the series.

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What is Subjectivity?

  • Occurs when two or more people bring their collective experiences into the space between them. 
  • Book example: two books on shelf vs. two authors together that created the books
  • “Inter” in the word “intersubjectivity” is used to give language to the space between the two subjects: the third

 

Why “Intersubjectivity” and not “Relationship”:

  • George Kelly’s construct theory
  • What words are spoken by one person may mean something totally different to someone else. 
  • Also, relationships can happen between objects or between a subject and an object.
  • We must speak in a way that can be understood- language matters. 
  • The language of intersubjectivity- the language that was developed to explain the human consciousness in relationships.
  • The neurobiological development of a human organism relies on intersubjectivity.
  • Highlights the universality and interconnectedness between all humans.  

 

The First Relationship:

  • Daniel Stern- author of a book on intersubjectivity
  • The relationship between infant and primary caregiver is the foundational experience that builds the concept of self. 
  • The caregiver’s attunement to the child’s emotional needs
  • Lastly, the parent creates a third space, bringing in their emotional experience within the relationship. 

 

Left-Brained Dominated Culture:

  • Firstly, as a culture, we minimize the right hemisphere. This causes a lack of embodiment of our personal concept of self as body and emotional being. 
  • The confrontation between the use of the therapist’s body and the invitation of the client’s body. 

 

Allan Schore’s article- The Interpersonal Neurobiology of Intersubjectivity (2021) 

Click here to access the full article.

Frontier psychology:

  • All of Schore’s work focuses on the subjective nature of the human organism. Particularly, found in the primary development of the right hemisphere. 
  • Provides a robust introduction to the theory of intersubjectivity
  • Establishes a foundational framework for how we view the human organism

 

The Quadrant of I, It, We, Its:

  • Firstly, the felt difference between “we” and “its”.
  • Reflecting on all the times throughout life that there was a longing for “we” but received “it” or “its” instead. 
  • What does it mean to work with the intersubjective space in the present moment?
    • A gentle but consistent monitoring of whether or not I’m pushing this encounter towards “it” and “its” or “I” and “we”.
    • Giving language to an experience that felt constant 

 

Intersubjectivity in Therapy:

  • Firstly, when we invite intersubjectivity with a client, there’s a stimulation of the right hemisphere that causes activation deep into the body. It provokes the affect states that have been dissociated. 
  • Secondly, this feels anxiety-provoking yet exciting because it’s something that the person has been longing for. 
  • Thirdly, there’s differences between a witnessing object and an witnessing subject. 
  • Also, we are trained as therapists to be objective, not subjective. 
  • We are not suggesting that working in the intersubjective space requires self-disclosure. It is about present moment awareness of the experience of the other human.
  • Lastly, it’s about the feeling evoked in the experience with the other.