ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the various ways in which both parties in the dyad may communicate and inform each other of their personal and interpersonal anxieties when there are discrepancies in the therapeutic environment. The impetus to communicate seems to be dependent upon our need to impart a message, and the motivation to relay a message therefore implies meaning and intention. Non-verbal communication when discerned may therefore be considered as a powerful source of information and instruction. The silence of the therapist is considered to be a powerful, nonverbal communication to the patient and may signify both helpful and unhelpful intentions. The patient in the clinical vignette makes the comparison between written and face-to-face communication. He refers to the sterile nature of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, which had been based on written communication, which he then links to his parents' barren relationship and to their subsequent separation.
