SIGNS AND VOICES - JOINING A CONVERSATION IN PROGRESS

This commentary joins a conversation between Ryle and Leiman, which re presents a larger conversation among theories of psychotherapy, semiot ics and linguistics. The emerging collaborative understanding involves viewing people not as separate, unitary individuals but as mosaics or communities of different voices. The voices share their experiences b y sign-mediated communication and engage in joint action. Projective i dentification may be considered as joint action mediated by non-verbal signs exchanged without awareness, in which the dyad becomes an effec tor for voices within both participants. The concepts of active voices and meaning-accumulating signs overcome the cognitive fallacy the mis leading notion that information in people is passive.