Liveliness

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to explore the significance of the experience of liveliness in psychotherapeutic interactions and its relevance to the practice of psychotherapy.

Method: Stern's notion of 'vitality affects' and Emde's concept of a 'primary affective core' are employed in developing a concept of liveliness, or an enlivening-deadening axis of experience. A critique of Freud's 'principles of mental functioning' is made in the light of this concept. Clinical examples are provided as illustrations of the relevance of considering the 'sense of liveliness', and its sustainability, in psychotherapy.

Results and conclusions: A sense of liveliness relates closely to activity within a system of interpersonal resonance with non-linear characteristics. The experience of, and responses to, vitality affects may be an important basis of a sense of liveliness. Sudden shifts towards experiences of deadness are a matter for concern in psychotherapy. This sphere of experience, although occurring largely outside verbal awareness, may constitute a distinct type of mental process. Three types of mental activity or process are postulated: (i) emergent, pre-representational activity characterised by the sense of liveliness; (ii) Play-related thought or activity typically experienced as enlivening; and (iii) work-related or adaptational thought or activity.