THE PROCESS OF THERAPEUTIC CHANGE INVOLVING IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE - SOMEIMPLICATIONS OF DEVELOPMENTAL OBSERVATIONS FOR ADULT PSYCHOTHERAPY

Several aspects of developmental change that are dependent on interact ions between parent and infant are examined for their value in casting light on the processes of change in adult psychotherapies. First, the domain of implicit knowledge (where changes necessarily occur in nonv erbal infants) is identified. The vast majority of therapeutic change is found to occur in this domain. We then examine the improvised, larg ely unpredictable, nonlinear movements toward mutual goals that charac terize the processes of parent-infant and therapist-patient interactio ns. Finally, we provide a microdescription of these processes and prov ide a terminology for the ''moments'' that make up their flow. Of part icular importance is the ''moment of meeting,'' in which the participa nts interact in a way that creates a new implicit, intersubjective und erstanding of their relationship and permits a new ''way-of-being-with -the-other.'' We view ''moments of meeting'' as the key element in bri nging about change in implicit knowledge, just as interpretations are thought to be the key element in bringing about change in explicit kno wledge.