Emozioni e Modalità Aptica: l’Uso del Tocco nella Gestione delle Emozioni del Paziente Afasico

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of haptic resources such as interpersonal touch in the management of patients’ emotions during speech therapy sessions devoted to the treatment of aphasia in the hospital setting. Patients diagnosed with aphasia may manifest emotional states of distress, such as anger, sadness, frustration, which can also evolve into crying sequences. The study, inspired by Conversation Analysis, analyzes how the therapist responds to these manifestations of emotional states, particularly through professional touch, which enables the therapist to control the patient, comfort him or her, and more generally, regulate and balance his or her emotional displays. By focusing on episodes of touch and the collaborative definition by speech therapist and patient of specific bodily and haptic configurations that allow for the establishment of forms of intimacy and affection, the article contributes to a multimodal view of emotions and on a multisensorial perspective on communication.