Get in sync with “Vitality Affects”

The concept of “vitality affects” is all about joining the rhythm of another, whether that “another” is a person, a song, a place, or a moment. Vitality affects are at the core of my therapeutic style.  My style is a natural and literal entrainment with a person’s cognition and emotion, which helps “mirror” the client’s internal experience.  This mirroring, or reflecting, allows the client to “see” herself outside of herself, and thus make tweaks and adjustments to her personal “music.” It’s no accident that the term is synonymous with affective attunement (get it? a-TUNE-ment, as in “tuning in” to the music of another). 

A great poster on vitality affects: http://www.phil.gu.se/posters/musicmove.pdf.

Tuning in to America’s Got Talent

I have been watching “America’s Got Talent,” a stupid yet mesmerizing talent show with Jerry Springer as host. The two front-running acts include a 400-pound young opera singer and two african american violinists from inner-city NY. The reason these two acts have risen to the top is that we in the audience become entranced by the symphony that is their music, movements, facial expressions, and tangible passion (not to mention their inspiring personal stories).  Their vitality affects become hypnotic pendula that mysteriously draw us in and help us to make our own symphonies. 

What types of vitality affects are you tuning in to these days?

Susan Hendrich