REGULATION OF THE SELF IN THE THERAPEUTIC ENVIRONMENT (COMMENTARY ON MORIOKA)

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