Traversing the Ineffable: Commentary on Sharon Farber’s “Becoming a Telepathic Tuning Fork”

Abstract

In this commentary I attempt to refine our definition of telepathy, questioning whether phenomena such as projective identification, dissociative processes, unconscious affective communication, and implicit relational knowing warrant equal classification. Should projective processes be distinguished from “telepathic” transmissions? I propose a continuum of mutual receptivity along which sensory and non-sensory-based forms of human empathic responsiveness might be positioned. This continuum will extend all the way to telepathic communications that defy material-based, Newtonian models of mind, since they occur between patient and therapist while situated in separate geographical locations.