[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Be proud of yourbody,' and the rest of the time says, 'Don't go aroundsticking out like that! You mustn't wear such tightsweaters.'I have a young teenage friend who is particularly un-inhibited and self-assured.Catching sight of herself in amirror while trying on a bikini, she told her mother,'Aren't they great? Never mind cremation if I die.I'mgoing to have them bronzed for posterity!'Most girls in their teens haven't this kind of body pride,and the carrying of their newly developed breasts be-comes a real problem.The resident doctor can be madeaware that changes in a girl's posture may signal de-pression, excitement, courtship, anger, or even an appealfor help.Eventually, in his own practice, he will be ableto recognize and interpret some of the different problems-of his teenage patients by their stance.Another example Dr Birdwhistell uses for residents iswhat he calls the ' remarkable distensibility and contracti-bility of the male abdomen and belly'.In courtship we have seen that the male will tighten his118POSITIONS, POINTS AND POSTURESabdominal muscles and pull in his belly.In depression hemay over-relax these muscles and let his stomach hangout.The degree of tension of these muscles can tell agreat deal about the emotional and mental condition ofa man.We must realize that the entire body is tobody language as the speech organs are to the spokenlanguage.Dr Paul L.Wachtel of the Downstate MedicalCenter, State University of New York, has studied non-verbal communication in psychiatric patients and haspublished an article titled 'An Approach to the Study ofBody Language in Psychotherapy'.Each movement or position of the body, according toDr Wachtel, has adaptive, expressive and defensivefunctions, some conscious and some unconscious.'Weseek,' he said, 'a thorough clinical evaluation of the sig-nificance of the patient's use of his body.'To obtain his data Dr Wachtel filmed psychiatricinterviews and then played and replayed the films,matching body language to verbal communication.Onething he learned from watching the films was when tolook for significant gestures.Theoretically you could tellby listening to a patient, but actually the movements aretoo fast and are often missed in an interview.Film canbe slowed down and replayed, serving as a time machineto recall any part of an interview at will.An example of how body language helps, Dr Wachtelsaid, came about in an interview with an extremelytroubled person who did not know how she felt about afriend with whom she was involved.In the film he noticed that whenever she was angry shemade certain gestures.When she repeated these samegestures at the mention of the friend's name he was ableto show her graphically how she felt towards that friend.119BODY LANGUAGEUnderstanding your emotions is, of course, the first stepin handling them.Dr Wachtel regards body language as a conscious orunconscious attempt by the patient to communicate withthe therapist.One patient he studied would lean back andclasp her hands as the therapist reached certain trouble-some areas.'Perhaps,' Dr Wachtel said, 'this is a rela-tively common expression of resistance.'Different Places, Different PosturesAccepting the idea that man uses more than one form ofcommunication has some very definite advantages to boththe psychiatrist and the ordinary citizen.The psychiatristcan learn what to expect from his patient and the ordinarycitizen can learn a great deal about what to expect fromhis fellow men if he understands that they react on a body-language level as well as on a spoken level.This awareness of body language is often a key to per-sonal relationships and it may be the secret so many menuse in handling others.Some men seem able to interpretbody language and manipulate people with their bodiesas well as with their voices.Beyond this, the awareness of someone else's body lan-guage and the ability to interpret it create an awareness ofone's own body language [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]