ABSTRACT
In the present chapter, the author describes the convergence between empirical evidence coming from the field of affective neuroscience and the ITAP model. Three main aspects are considered: (1) the functioning of the neural semantic system in association with the concept of the interpersonal triangle, where the similarities between past, current and therapist interactions are described as emerging from the projections of internal representation constructed in the there and then during the interaction in the here and now; (2) neural mechanisms of conditioned response learning and the automatic emotion regulation of such responses in association with the concept of intrapsychic triangle; (3) the physiological synchronization observed in interpersonal physiology studies as a resource for alliance and holding in the therapeutic relationship.
