EPA-1237 – Polyglot Therapies - The Implications of Neuroscientific Findings and Child Development Research on Clinical Practice

Abstract

Freud started his career as a neurologist studying polyglot aphasias. In a globalised world, the question of polyglot psychotherapies is increasingly important.

Neuroscientific findings and child development research support theories on embodied semantics (Pulvermüller, 2013): the emergence of meaning primarily from somatic/sensorimotor experiences. Increasing evidence supports the importance of the mirror neuron system in the process of language acquisition (Moreno et al, 2013) and the development of cognition (Perlovsky, 2013).

Threvarthen's studies suggest that onthologically, language development is dependent on dynamic patterns of the embodied intersubjective experiences of the child.

Age and contextual factors influence language acquisition. Nevertheless, little is known as to what extent and in what quality multimodal experiences are at play at the time of second language acquisition and in what way these are superimposed on early embodied experiences. Neuroimaging studies have proved that with second language acquisition differential activations remain within brain regions; (Halsband et al, 2002) yet with the progression of proficiency, the different languages converge onto a shared neural system underlying language processing (Perani et al., 2005).

In light of these findings, the author will discuss the advantages and difficulties of working across languages in the therapeutic setting. Cultural aspects of dynamic patterning and thus their influence on emotional development will be highlighted. Questions will be raised about the possibility that the retrieval of emotional aspects of memories varies in different languages and how this can be utilised in polyglot therapies. Finally, the significance of the somatic counter-transference in polyglot therapies will be discussed.