Toward a psychology of silence.

Abstract

Although silence is a common and potentially powerful human experience, the number of professional publications in psychology regarding silence has remained small and essentially unintegrated. This paper provides a metareview and commentary on the behavioral and experiential approaches to silence in psychology, philosophy, and phenomenology including reported research, selected theoretical and spiritual writings from both East and West, and the effects that intentionally practicing silence has on deepening one's experience. Areas of psychological significance include developing mental and emotional stability, opening to unconscious processes, increasing intuitive sensibilities, being aware of the distinction between cognitive understanding and prereflective knowing, having a quieter and less reactive mind, resolving inner and outer conflicts, promoting physical and emotional healing, increasing spiritual awareness, and exploring one's own inner self. The applications of these areas are discussed in the context of individual psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, group therapy, and utilizing mindfulness and other meditative practices in psychotherapeutic and integrative health settings to deepen the experience of silence. The paper concludes with a proposed classificatory system of 10 forms of silence that range from the most external worldly manifestations to the subtlest most inwardly attuned discernments. This typology will hopefully serve as a foundational template for future research and a more integrated inquiry into the nature and purpose of being silent.

The Wilderness Solo Experience: A Unique Practice of Silence and Solitude for Personal Growth

“…In this way, silence experienced through solo in the wilderness seems to differ from various contemplative approaches to silence that encourage the individual to turn attention away from, or even prevent, the intrusion of sounds, thoughts, emotions, and speech to achieve an inner silence, stillness, and calm ( Valle, 2019 ). In the wilderness solo, silence is experienced as a way to become actively aware of and attuned to the external environment by which an awareness and connection between internal and external nature are developed.…”

“…Although silence has commonly been defined as the absence of sound or communication ( Valle, 2019 ), current discourse has examined silence more as a path allowing the presence and development of human qualities. In his work on the nature of silence, Picard (2002 , p. 15) described silence as “an autonomous phenomenon [which is] not simply what happens when we stop talking [but] an independent whole, subsisting in and through itself.” Therefore, it is through the absence of external noise that a profound process of gaining knowledge may be triggered ( Picard, 2002 ).…”

“…The opportunity embedded in silence for positive change and human development was the focus of Valle’s (2019) metareview of the behavioral and experiential approaches to silence in psychology and the effects that intentionally practicing silence have on deepening one’s experience. Based on his extensive review, Valle (2019) proposed a classificatory system of ten forms of silence, ranging from the most external worldly manifestations to the subtlest, most inwardly attuned discernments (environmental, sensory, psychic sensory, emotional, verbal, mental, pre-reflective, intuitive, ontological, and transcendent), illuminating the human potential to experience vast dimensions of human existence through various forms of silence.…”

“…Silence has been underscored as a central characteristic of the solo experience in the wilderness, but the characteristics, effect, and personal experience of silence within this context have yet to be explored ( Knapp and Smith, 2005 ), Literature in the field of health psychology has focused on silence in the context of therapeutic intervention, mostly as the absence of verbal communication, in individual psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and group therapy ( Elson, 2001 ; Levitt, 2001 ; Ladany et al, 2004 ). Hence, our understanding of the effect that the practice of silence has on the nature and quality of inner experience and human behavior in the field of psychology is limited ( Valle, 2019 ). Despite growing evidence that attests to its merit (see, for example, Kalisch et al, 2011 , extensive review), the wilderness solo experience, perceived as a distinct therapeutic intervention, integrating silence and solitude, has yet to gain attention within the broad field of psychology ( Nicholls, 2008 ).…”

Editorial: Neurophysiology of Silence: Neuroscientific, Psychological, Educational and Contemplative Perspectives

“…However, silence, which is very often a characteristic aspect of those meditative practices, has enjoyed very little focal attention in the same disciplines. The scientific study of silence-induced effects, as well as typological conceptualizations, have only sporadically appeared (Belanoff, 2001;Dénommé-Welch and Rowsell, 2017;Valle, 2019). Consequently, the purpose of the current Research Topic was to advance our understating of the subjective experience of silence, its relation to different contemplative traditions and to current theories of consciousness, its related neural mechanisms, and its possible relation to psychological outcomes, as well as educational and social perspectives.…”