Somatic mirroring: psychotherapeutic treatment of mental states without representation

Disturbances during the pre-verbal period of infancy, or traumatic situations that impact psychic organisation, may produce perforated areas in the psyche, archaic areas that are not represented or that have negligible representation. In this article, I would like to propose a therapeutic technique based on a combination of the principles of psychoanalysis and dance/movement therapy for the treatment of those specific psychic areas. My assumption is that although these areas are without representation–lacking definition or description, if their origins are in the soma, then they possess the beginnings of ‘body figurability’, i.e. rhythm, space and intensity of experience that is intrinsic to the body. The article examines the effect motoric activity has on unlocking the knowledge inherent in the body and the contribution of the ‘somatic mirroring’ technique to representation of the somatic experience in the psyche. This will be demonstrated through a therapy vignette from the clinic.