"Exchange of words" and nothing else? Interaction and staging in the therapeutic dialogue

In psychotherapy with patients who do not tolerate the conditions of the,ta lking cure' because they tend to act instead of verbalizing their experienc es interactive entanglements are rather common. Often this is a consequence of nonverbal gestural behavior that directs interaction in the therapeutic dialogue while the exchange of words has taken a back seat. The symbolic s pace of verbal understanding gets lost then. Gestural behavior does not for m an independent communication system as usage of,body language suggests. I nstead as permanent concomitant of utterances it has primarily the function of regulating the interaction of patient and psychotherapist.