Ethical Issues

ABOUT NONVERBAL COMMUNICATIONS

Part 1: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS*

Adam Blatner, M.D.

(Revised June 29, 2009)

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(* In Part 2 I'll talk about how people can learn to become more sensitive to this dimension of human experience.)

 Psychotherapists, group leaders in management training, patients themselves, and people in personal growth programs all can benefit from learning about the nature and impact of nonverbal communications. This paper will review the major categories of this dimension of interpersonal behavior.

 The major categories of nonverbal communications include the following (and will be discussed in greater detail further):

|personal space |eye contact |position |

|posture |paralanguage |expression |

|gesture |touch |locomotion |

|pacing |adornment  |context |

|  |physiologic responses |  |

The Significance of Nonverbal Communications

Stated briefly, how something is expressed may carry more significance and weight than what is said, the words themselves. Accompanied by a smile or a frown, said with a loud, scolding voice or a gentle, easy one, the contents of our communications are framed by our holistic perceptions of their context. Those sending the messages may learn to understand themselves better as well as learning to exert some greater consciousness about their manner of speech. Those receiving the messages may learn to better understand their own intuitive responses–sometimes in contrast to what it seems "reasonable" to think.

Part of our culture involves an unspoken rule that people should ignore these nonverbal elements– as if the injunction were, "hear what I say, and...