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Head: BUDDY OBSERVATION FINAL PAPER

Buddy Observation Final Paper

Jillian Pratzner
Naropa University
PSYS 621-A
December 10, 2014

BUDDY OBSERVATION FINAL PAPER

Throughout the course of the semester I have been observing my buddy in order to
collect data on her movements and then synthesize them in a meaningful way. To make meaning
of the movements I witnessed was the most difficult part of the project and I found myself
resistant to the prompt. However once I started to think about the questions from a multicultural
and personal lens much was brought to light as to why I make the meaning I do from movement.
The truth is meaning making is happening all the time implicitly and to examine the process
explicitly is only in the service of helping me become a more apt and aware counselor.
1. Having observed your buddy in various contexts throughout the semester, what are
the core movement characteristics this person embodies?
To bring to light the core movements of my buddy I am going draw out a skit of her on
a normal day in class. She walks into the room in DIRECT space and EVEN flow, standing in
the Vertical and Bound in her torso with her arms CARVED around her bags. Her UPPER body
half bends to the floor GRADUALLY as she places her bags on the floor. She gets VERTICAL
again and TWISTS her UPPER body a couple of times with her arms held in MIDDLE SPACE
using BIPOLAR WIDENING. She uses GENTLENESS to FLOAT to the floor and she tucks her
legs under her cross style BOUND again in BIPOLAR WIDENDING. She YEILDS into the
back of her back jack and folds her arms across her lower belly with LIGHT weight and
SUSTAINED time. Something is being said in class and she begins to use the SUCKING rhythm
in her eyes. She PUSHes into the SAGITAL plane and raises her hand with QUICK time and
UNIPOLAR LENGTHENING. When she speaks both arms in BIPLOAR WIDENING get
HORIZONTAL in the MIDDLE SPACE. From the elbows down to the hands she is DABBING,
FLICKING and CARVING. Something more arises she gets excited about and she begins to use
her hands with DIRECT space and STRONG WEIGHT, SPURTING and PUSHing forward with

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her chest. She finishes talking and as she listens to another her torso begins the SWAYING
rhythm. She GRADUALLY BULGES back into her seat in a YEILD. She touches her face and
neck in SHAPE FLOW. She REACHes for her tea and GRASPS it bringing it to her lips. She
sets it down with LOW INTENSITY, satisfied with her interaction with the others in the room
and taking a deep BREATH.
2. Discuss your observation process. How was this for you? What were you drawn to?
What did you forget to notice? In which contexts did you catalogue your observations?
How do issues of diversity and multicultural awareness influence your observation and
meaning making process?
This was a really fun process for me. I felt that I was already drawn to my buddy in a
personal, friendly way and that I had already been noting her movement patterns in a less formal
way. I think that there are many ways that I identify with my buddy and because of that I have
a bias to view her in a positive light. I also tended to compare myself to her. For instance I
noticed that she engages in SHAPE FLOW less often than I do, and that led me to implicitly
conclude that she was more mature and able to sustain more attention in class. Also knowing her
yoga teacher background had me predisposed to the thought that she was able to sit still longer
than I ever could. I was also very drawn to her hand movements. I dont talk as much with my
hands and so I believe that might be the reason her hand movements stuck out to me.
Something I had completely forgotten until our third buddy brought it up was how
much my buddy uses the MIDDLE space. I use NEAR space more often and when it comes to
men I am incredibly conscious of how much space they take up. It really annoys and upsets me
when I am sitting next to a man and he takes up so much space as to border closely or encroach
on mine. Rae (2014) states, Early studies in nonverbal communication (e.g., Sommer, 1969)

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showed that dominant animals and high-status human beings are afforded greater personal space,
and that those with lower status tend to yield space to those with higher status. In terms of gender
roles, people (even women) are more likely to invade women's personal space, even when
women do not explicitly yield their territory (p. 218). Perhaps because my buddy is a woman
her use of space was something I was more comfortable with and able to overlook. Or perhaps
subconsciously I take her use of space to mean she is powerful and that can be part of the reason
I view her as a competent adult person. I find that noting my own pre-perceptions and bias a
great exercise for my own awareness, as I know I will be bringing this into my therapeutic
relationships unconsciously.
3. How do you synthesize your data in a meaningful way? What meanings might be made
in terms of the KMP and Objecting Relations/Self Psychology/Attachment Theory?
My buddy is a doer and boss. I say this because she is VERTICAL she is
SAGITTAL and she never seems to COLLAPSE. She is DIRECT with her eyes and attention,
and she has no qualms taking up MIDDLE or FAR SPACE and WIDENING. Loman (1996)
says, Shape-flow patterns provide a means to express and structure internal feelings about
relationships. When we feel trust, for example, we tend to grow and enlarge our body
boundaries (342). The trust that Loman is talking about also directly relates to attachment and
relationship. I often see my buddy CARVING and BULDING forward to make contact.
Kestenberg, Lewis, Loman, & Sossin (1999) state, Bulging forward suggests an eagerness for
contactBulging forward is typical for children who are entering the sagittal plane and evolving
from toddlers into walkers (p. 134). So from my observation I would say that my buddy is
able to engage in secure attachment with others. I would also like to bring in the multicultural
piece that There is considerable evidence that attachment theory and research is based on the

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Western middle-class conception of development with the primary goal of individual

psychological autonomy (Keller, 2012, p.187) I do view my buddy as possessing autonomy
and self-reliance and as such this would be considered the epitome of what Western mental
health professionals would consider healthy. However I also do not know what she is like at
home and what I am seeing is only in one context. These are important alternate views to keep in
mind as things are not always as they appear and mental health professionals have been
conditioned to only see one type of healthy or normal.
4. Develop a Challenge Character for your buddy.
My challenge character is going to be a character that slouches in a state of COLLAPSE and uses
their hips and legs with STRONG WEIGHT. I have not explored through the rest of this paper
what it means that my buddy is generally BOUND in her legs because I am not quite sure what
it means yet. I hope that by asking her to work with her LOWER HALF in this way we will be
able to collaborate to make meaning of it. I also want her to get into patterns of PUSH and then
COLLAPSE. I see my buddy as YEILDING more often then not and as such having success
with the satisfaction cycle. I want her to be able to contrast the cycle. Brook (2001) says, People
who lead with a push that does not have an underlying active yield are often unaware of the
impact of their energy (67). I want her challenge character to be out of control using
SPURTING/RAMMING and BITING. Generally I want to help her experience the fighting
rhythms. I will use a flat-rimmed baseball cap and saggy pants to help support her to slouch and
COLLAPSE.
5. Develop a Home Base Character for your buddy.
Words that came to mind when thinking of a home base character for my buddy were dainty
and sprightly. However she is also a boss and as such I have decided that she should be a

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fairy queen. I see her using her hands with the assistance of a wand to FLICK and DAB with
both LIGHT and STRONG weight and both DIRECT and INDIRECT space. I want her to
remain VERTICAL and upright with a small PUSH in her torso. She will be sitting still or else
FLOATing with LIGHT weight as she walks around giving orders. She will not be able to
YEILD until it is time to go to bed in order to have the PUSH be very exaggerated.
Conclusion
I am left with much gratitude at having gone through this process of observation and assessment
with my buddy. Human beings have the capacity to produce nearly three-quarters of a million
distinct physical signs, including different bodily postures, hand gestures, and facial expressions
(Danesi, 1999)(as cited in Rae, 2014 p. 216). Non-verbal communication is extremely intricate
and complex. This project allowed me to put my knowledge over the course of the year into
something meaningful. I am left for the first time in this course with a sense of satisfaction!

References
Brook, A. (2001). From conception to crawling: Foundations of developmental movement.

Boulder, CO: Body-Mind Net.

Keller, H. (2012). Attachment and culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(2), 175194.

Kestenberg A. J., Loman, S., Lewis, P., & Sossin, K. M. (1999). The meaning of movement:
Developmental and clinical perspectives of the Kestenberg Movement Profile. Amsterdam,
The Netherlands: Gordon and Breach Publishers.

Loman, S., & Foley, L. (1996). Models for understanding the nonverbal process in

relationships. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 23(4), 342-350.

Rae, J. (2014). Contacting Gender. Gestalt Review, 18(3), 207-225.