Friday, March 04, 2011

An alternate view of complementarity

"A closely related framework that provides a guide for the effective use of tenderness is the principle of complementarity embodied in the concepts of yin and yang. Yang, with its aggressive, controlling character, or yin with its soft, yielding character may appear in either analyst or analysand. When the analyst comes to recognize the analysand in a state of yang, the analyst's unexpected move into yin may destabilize the analysand and overcome resistance.

This principle of complementarity allows the analyst to avoid the trap of over-reaction or counter-reaction and to retain or restore a balance within. An analysand whose energy has been expended in yang may be drawn easily into yin by the softness or gentleness of the analyst. ... At that moment, the analyst follows through with the focus and concentration of the hard interpretation that represents the return to yang for the acquisition of insight and consolidation of new learning.

In the ongoing, dynamic process of analysis, the analyst's deepest aim is to restore the patient's flow, complementarity, and harmony. In time this allows the analysand to regain contact with the central self, to heal the split between hard and soft, and become a resilient adult, grounded and living in the present. For those whose life experiences have created hard, tough exteriors, it is the analyst's tenderness that allows the experience of softness to re-emerge and fosters the integration of the elements."

Taboo or not Taboo

4 comments:

Bob MacDonald said...

Excellent note - the male who denies his ying denies that he is made in the image of God, male and female.

Anonymous said...

Jesus and Paul knew this, as they compared themselves positively with feminine images. Does anyone else wonder why this is not taught much if at all by comps?

Don Johnson

Michelle said...

Fear of being tainted by anything at all remotely outside of prescribed gender norms, particularly with such behaviors' link with non-heterosexuality.
Fear of "taint" in general appears, to me, to be extremely strong.

Michelle said...

I mean, "...particularly with such behaviors' *perceived* link with non-heterosexuality."
Sorry I inadvertently left that out the first time--I was thinking it, but my fingers forgot to type it.