That’s an uncharitable reading of a metaphorical version of the Somatic Marker Hypothesis. Which in turn is just a statement of something fairly obvious: there are physiological indicators of mental and emotional function. That’s not the same thing as saying that these things are actually stored in the body, just that one can use physiological state as clues to find out what’s going on in your head, or to identify that “something is bothering me”, and then try to puzzle out what that is.
I’m not sure that Gendlin doesn’t believe in something stronger. There’s bodywork literature that suggests that you won’t solve a deep problem like a depression without changes on the myofascial level.
I’m not sure that Gendlin doesn’t believe in something stronger. There’s bodywork literature that suggests that you won’t solve a deep problem like a depression without changes on the myofascial level.