Synchronicity and psychotherapy: Unconscious communication in the psychotherapeutic relationship

Within analytic and psychoanalytic psychotherapies, the unconscious process and communication between patient and psychotherapist is central to the th erapeutic work. Unconscious communication may manifest in a variety of ways including through synchronicity. "Synchronicity" is an acausal yet meaning ful connection between an internal mental object and an external event orig inally described by Carl Jung and his contemporaries, Previous literature h as discussed the relationship between synchronicity and psychotherapy but t here has been limited attention to synchronistic events Linking the patient and psychotherapist. Relational viewpoints that emphasize the therapeutic dyad and the creation of meaning in the therapeutic context, provide a cont emporary framework for understanding and utilizing synchronicity as it surf aces in psychotherapy. Concepts from psychoanalytic psychotherapy including intersubjectivity, the therapeutic container, transference, and countertra nsference are explored in relation to synchronicity. Guidance for integrati ng and utilizing synchronicity in relationally oriented psychotherapy is pr ovided. A clinical case study is presented to illustrate these ideas.