ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the interconnections between boundaries and the self. Boundaries cannot be separated from contact any more than they can be separated from the self. Ego defence mechanisms may then be conceptualised as different kinds of rigid inner contact boundaries. Contact with the inner world is mediated by proprioception and imagery, while the outer world is received through the senses: by touch, vision, hearing, smell, and taste. In the world of psychotherapy, particularly humanistic therapy and most explicitly Gestalt, contact is viewed as a good thing, whereas poor contact is understood as a sign of psychopathology. Intersubjectivity challenges the dualism inherent in the Gestalt theory of contact across boundaries and introduces a tension between the idea of a boundary and the idea of an interactive field. The opening and closing of flexible boundaries has been explored in terms of intersubjectivity, empathy, and spiritual practice.
