Imagining with the body in analytical psychology. Movement as active imagination: an interdisciplinary perspective from philosophy and neuroscience.
Ana Deligiannis
Journal of Analytical Psychology April 2018 DOI: 10.1111/1468-5922.12392 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Movement as Active Imagination |
| Keywords | Aktive imagination Immaginazione attiva Körper Neurowissenschaften Transzendente funktion Active imagination Body Corpo Corps Cuerpo Función trascendente Funzione trascendente Imaginación activa Imagination active La fonction transcendante Les neurosciences Neurociencia Neuroscienze Transcendent function Активное воображение Нейронаука Трансцендентная функция 动作作为积极想象 神经科学 超越功能 身体 |
| Key points | Argues that Movement as Active Imagination operates through the body and imagination as pathways of knowledge in clinical practice, activating the transcendent function and encouraging new therapeutic responses. Proposes three progressive levels of integration (body; body-emotion; body-emotion-imagination) and links creativity to neuronal plasticity. |
Abstract
This article explores how the body and imagination operate as pathways of knowledge through the use of Movement as Active Imagination in clinical practice. This method activates the transcendent function, thus encouraging new therapeutic responses. A philosophical perspective (Spinoza, Nietzsche, Merleau-Ponty) and some concepts from neuroscience (embodied cognition, somatic markers, image schema, mirror neurons, neuronal plasticity) will accompany us throughout this work, illustrated with a clinical vignette. Three levels of integration: 1) body, 2) body-emotion, 3) body-emotion-imagination are proposed: these mark a progressive sense of articulation and complexity. Finally the relation between creativity and neuronal plasticity will be considered.