Making the ineffable visible.

Abstract

Given that presence is ineffable yet real and universal, it is no surprise that it has historically been the domain of mystics. However, presence and its cousins—shared mind, love, and compassion—have now become of intense interest among members of the scientific community under the banners of interpersonal neurobiology and social neuroscience (Decety & Lamm, 2009; Epstein & Street, 2011; Klimecki, Leiberg, Lamm, & Singer, 2013; Zlatev, Racine, Sinha, & Itkonen, 2008). This may seem obvious to readers of Families Systems, and Health, but it is not the basis for medical practice or psychotherapy in general.