ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the clinical implications of the understanding of the aesthetic sense of self and self-with-other that has been presented in the prior section. Most importantly we intend to illustrate through a clinical example the intersubjective, interactional nature of the aesthetic dimension of analysis and its role in the elaboration of empathy and the therapeutic process. Traditionally, our aesthetic responsiveness is perceived as our sense of beauty. Implicit is dichotomy; implicit in our sense of beauty is our sense of ugliness, that which subjectively fractures beauty. Aesthetic procedural memories become integrated with conscious cognition to create the possibility of empathic bonds. Consequently, aesthetic quality conjoins with content to permit our deepest empathic relations, and ultimately sustains our connection to the arts. The best sense of relationship was not based on what was said but indeed how it was said on a procedural and aesthetic level. The capacity to expect constructive relations develops from an aesthetic sense of self.
