In our daily interactions with intimate others we look into their eyes and may feel responsiveness, a steadiness and presence in their eyes as they look at us. We have a sense that we are in ‘eye contact.’ Yet for most of us there are limitations in our ability to make satisfying eye contact. If we extend our circle out from intimates we might notice how difficult it is for people to look with a steady gaze or to have clear eyes that are readable. Some ocular holding is common, meaning that our eyes, including our ability to see clearly, perceive reality, sense reality through our physical sensations, tolerate eye contact from others and come forward through one’s eyes, have been compromised. We count on the integration of the ocular segment with our other capacities of sensing, perceiving, feeling and thinking to give us a clear grasp of reality.

Reich stated that a serious eye block starts in the first ten days of life. He was referring to the mother-infant dyad and how the eye contact evolved between the two. Did the infant look into warm eyes that enveloped with safety or was the caretaker distressed, distracted or expressing meanness in his eyes? The absence of early attachment synchrony is a factor in the development of an ocular block.