ABSTRACT
D onna and E l len appeared quite open i n their verbal dialogue w i t h me and unaware of any distrust of me. I first experienced blocks i n our communicat ion as negative countertransferential feelings that were at odds w i t h my generally positive feelings towards them. I traced these negative feelings to particular body-attitude rigidities. Body attitude is defined by h o w the body is shaped and aligned i n space and h o w body parts are posit ioned i n relation to one another, as wel l as by favored posi - tions of the whole body. The body attitude carries readiness for certain patterns and qualities of movement (Kestenberg, 1975a). Body attitude may convey an emotional "pos i t ion" (Scheflen, 1963,1964), such as lamenting or questioning, or it may constitute an "interpersonal attitude" (Mehrabian and W i l l i a m s , 1969). In D o n n a , the specific details of body attitude were obvious visually, but i n E l len they were m u c h more difficult to detect.
