Nearby Strangers: The Concurrent Desire for Connection and the Dread of Realising Intimacy

Abstract

This paper deals with issues of closeness and connectedness among strangers. The author writes from the context of considering the impact of the Israeli political reality, within which he lives. He weaves together the story of joining a novel initiative of a bicultural Jewish–Arabic kindergarten together with a case study, where self‐disclosure results in therapeutic transformation. The author raises questions and ponders about relationships in general, and particularly therapeutic relationships: What are the conditions that allow for closeness? Is proximity sufficient for the creation of closeness? Is there a generative quality to the willingness to move into unfamiliar places, transitional spaces in the therapeutic encounter? Can closeness between strangers take place without attending to the respective wounds of both parties?