Listening to Silence

Abstract

SUMMARY. I have examined the function of silence ‐ its possible role and meanings ‐ in the psychoanalytic encounter. I have argued that silence is complementary to words in general, and to analytic free‐associations in particular, and that silence in the patient is often more than just the expression of his resistance. It could be useful to consider the silent space within a session as a sort of container of words ‐words that, for complex, over‐determined, unconscious reasons cannot be uttered. I have insisted on the significance of analytic silences and warned against responding to them either through a retaliatory silence or through a flood of premature interpretations. These inadequate reactions often stem from the analyst's own anxiety evoked in him by the patient's silence. Anxiety and silence are closely connected. Each silence is a compromise formation, concealing the unconscious fantasy from which it originates, while expressing a conscious one, often related to the transference situation. It is the task of the analyst to listen to his patient's silences in order to help him understand their meanings.

Eloquent silences: A musical and lexical analysis of conversation between oncologists and their patients

“…Silences are bounded by both lexical and musical elements; here we have elucidated rhythmic elements of speech which may be crucial to the communication of emotion and the formation of patient-clinician relationships [17,45–48]. In particular, dialog rhythm mirroring was a marker of this particular kind of silence [3]. Given that connectional silences are relatively infrequent, new developments in computer-automated analysis of dialog rhythm patterns may facilitate investigations using larger data sets and thus reliably identify and characterize connectional moments.…”

“…Silence in clinical contexts is defined as an absence of verbal audio signal, lasting appreciably longer than the average time between speaking turns [5–7]. The meaning and function of silence is defined by context including ambient sounds, utterances before and after the silence, and visual cues such as facial expression and body position [3,5,7–10]. The literature from psychotherapy and linguistics suggests that silence within medical visits can be divided broadly into communicatory silences that are intentionally left silent and non-communicatory or interrupted communication, such as when a physician enters data on a computer [7,11].…”

Silence Lends Integrity to Speech: Transcending the Opposites of Speech and Silence in the Analytic Dialogue

“…Winnicott even names his wish to explore opposites in the title of his paper ‘Communicating and not communicating leading to a study of certain opposites’ (Winnicott, 1965). Sabbadini writes about silence as complementary to words ‘in general and to free associations in particular’ (1991, p. 1) and of silence as a container of words that cannot be uttered. Ogden (1994), in Subjects of Analysis , writes of the creation of an analytic third reminiscent of Jung's ‘living, third thing .…”

Spaces in between

“…I tried to show earlier that this was what I experienced with Jean. Sabbadini (1991) too in his paper`Listening to Silence' describes how it can be`a barrier ... a shield,. .. a bridge.…”