assumes responsibility for it. This extends to adjusting the Client’s position on the table, lifting her limbs to massage them, and moving her muscles in ways she would not be able to on her own. In many ways, the merging that occurs in MT aligns with Spinelli’s(20) notion of ‘worlding’: social roles become meaningless, boundaries become ambiguous, the Client is not required to be or do any thing, as the experience of pleasure takes the Client out of the realm of the concrete into a place where words are not necessary or, bearing in mind the Client’s struggle to qualify her experience of the massage, possible. The Therapist also maintains contact by talking, especially by checking in with the Client about her level of comfort and her window of tolerance for pain. As well as affording the Therapist a better understanding of the Client’s experience, which fosters empathy, it brings the Client a direct, conscious experience of connection: Client: I felt really connected to her when she would ask me about the pressure and […] when she would tell me what she was going to do and how it might feel. Later in the relationship, this feeling of connection is extended when the Therapist no longer needs to enquire as much about the pressure: affectionate “darling” suggests the unconditionally forgiving tone of an adult caregiver reassuring a child. This unconditional positive regard is one of Rogers’ “necessary and sufficient conditions”(15,16) for therapeutic change. 2.3: Communication The Client is able to experience pleasure through both tactile and verbal communication, but the manner in which each mode generates the Client’s pleasure is different. The Client initially worries about the etiquette around conversation but, as her comfort level with the Therapist grows, her anxiety reduces and she converses freely. In her commentary, the Client states that her ideas about talking during MT are shifted as a result of the Therapist’s talk-laden treatment style: Client: …I used to think I was like […] ‘You’re here to like get a massage and relax and fall asleep’ but, talking to her, I was like letting go of things cos I was just telling her and I was just venting… Close analysis of her comments points to a more deep-seated ambivalence on the issue: Client: She was constantly telling me what she was going to do and how it might feel or how the pressure was so I felt like she constantly wanted to know […] and she was constantly telling me […] She was very talkative and that was a good thing because she was constantly asking me about my life and about my dog or anything like that, and making conversation, like making me talk. While her overall tone remains positive and affirming of the Therapist, her repetition of “constantly” hints at unspoken frustration with the regularity of the Therapist’s enquiries, the pejorative “talkative” is defensively smoothed over, and “making me talk” suggests her sense of being pressed, rather than acting out of free will. Tactile communication contributes more directly to the Client’s experience of pleasure. The many variations on “that felt nice” peppered throughout the Client’s commentary suggest that what stays most with the Client after treatment is less the content of conversation and more the sensations experienced while talk occurs. This suggests an unconscious acceptance of the messages of care and comfort that the Therapist knowingly communicates through her touch. In her commentaries, the Therapist frequently offers verbal translations of her wordless actions, such as: Therapist: …when you’re in under the head and you’re holding, that’s communicating that you’re supporting by the particular hold that you’ve got… The Client’s reflection on the same moment is not a corresponding, ‘Thank you, I feel supported,’ but CLARK: PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP IN MT 27 International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork—Volume 12, Number 3, September 2019 Client: I felt connected to her when she already knew what areas I was gonna be sore in […] even though I didn’t know I was going to be sore in that area. This seems to be received by the Client as evidence of a strong psychic union, as if the Therapist knows the Client’s body better than she does herself. The kind of metaphysical ‘melting’ of the boundaries between the Therapist and Client is further suggested by the Therapist’s use of metaphor, such as “massaging…ears” to imply talk, and “my hands are doing the talking [and] listening and observing”, wherein she ignores the laws of physics and biology to conceptualize her method of connecting to the Client. The Client, too, gives voice to the messages sent by the Therapist’s hands: Client: …at the end of every massage, she puts her hands over my eyes for like a good twenty seconds. Just be like, “Ah! This is the end. It’s all over. Enjoy yourself. Calm down.” This move from the real to the imaginary, from the scientific to the intuitive, characterizes the merging process. 3.2: Empathy Empathy and pleasure work in a cycle in this relationship. At first, they are facilitated only by the Therapist. As the sessions progress, the Client becomes more curious and interested in the Therapist’s experience, the Therapist becomes less guarded, and empathy flows more freely between the two participants. Accordingly, when the Therapist’s attempts to empathize are affected by countertransference, ruptures occur and may