Sensibility refers to the capacity to perceive, feel, and respond to subtle stimuli, including emotions, aesthetics, or social nuances. It encompasses an attunement to one’s environment, others’ states of mind, and one’s internal experience. In the context of psychoanalysis, sensibility can be understood as the finely tuned awareness that allows a practitioner to notice unconscious dynamics, emotional undercurrents, and relational patterns.
Why Psychoanalysts Develop Sensibility Outwardly
Psychoanalysts cultivate outward-directed sensibility because their work inherently involves engaging with others’ psyches, rather than focusing solely on their own internal worlds. Here are key reasons for this outward development:
1. Relational Nature of Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a profoundly relational discipline. The therapeutic relationship, often referred to as the “analytic pair,” relies on the analyst’s ability to attune to the patient’s emotional and unconscious world. Outward sensibility enables the analyst to detect subtle cues—such as changes in tone, body language, or timing—that might reveal deeper layers of meaning.
2. Countertransference as a Tool
Analysts often use their own emotional responses (countertransference) as a diagnostic tool. This requires an outward focus on the patient’s impact on the analyst, rather than an inward immersion in the analyst’s personal emotions. Sensibility helps the analyst differentiate between what belongs to the patient and what arises from their own psyche.
3. Understanding the Unconscious in the Other
Since the unconscious is structured relationally, psychoanalysts need to direct their attention outward to recognize the symbolic expressions of the patient’s unconscious—whether through speech, actions, or silence.
4. External Context and Environment
Analysts must also be sensitive to the broader external world that shapes their patients’ experiences. Social, cultural, and historical contexts inform the unconscious, and understanding these contexts requires an outwardly directed sensibility.
5. Ethical and Existential Commitment
Some contemporary psychoanalysts, particularly those influenced by existential and critical perspectives (e.g., Del Loewenthal, Decolonial Therapy), view their work as extending beyond individual healing to address broader social injustices. This necessitates an outward engagement with the world and its structures.
The Tension Between Inward and Outward Sensibility
While psychoanalysis traditionally emphasizes outward-directed sensibility, it does not negate the importance of inward exploration. Analysts must also cultivate deep self-awareness to avoid projecting their own unresolved conflicts onto their patients. The ideal is a dynamic interplay between inward and outward sensibility, allowing the analyst to remain grounded in their own self while fully attuned to the external world.
This outward focus aligns with your belief that psychoanalysis—or “post-psychoanalysis”—will increasingly be shaped by external determinants, suggesting a move beyond the inward turn of classical psychoanalysis toward a broader, more integrated sensibility.
