Hermeneutic Phenomenology and Psychotherapy

The field of psychotherapy has recently seen many technical advances. Yet it remains fragmented on a theoretical level and its philosophical foundations tend to be overlooked. Today, most of psychotherapy is founded on a natural science paradigm or alternatively, on social constructionism. In this chapter, I have critiqued these dominant paradigms and proposed instead a hermeneutic phenomenological foundation for psychotherapy as a human science. I explored the interface between hermeneutic phenomenology and psychotherapy in general. This is followed by Gadamer’s concepts of play and its relevance for play therapy with children. Ricoeur’s theory of narrative structure is applied to narratives in psychotherapy and in particular, to family therapy. The key concepts of understanding and of interpretation are also addressed from a philosophical point of view and in turn applied to the theory and practice of psychotherapy. The role and meaning of play in child psychotherapy was illustrated by means of a brief clinical case vignette. Today, the field of psychotherapy is characterized by a multiplicity of diverse theoretical approaches and mini-theories. Above all, it is dominated by an ever-growing array of techniques to be used for specific therapeutic interventions. With their eyes focused on practice, modern day therapists show little interest in the theories of psychotherapy and even less in their philosophical foundations. Yet these very philosophical grounds determine how we view reality and the human being. They implicitly underlie our theories of psychotherapy and even our formulation of techniques. It is of vital importance that the philosophical foundations, which underlie various therapeutic theories be made explicit.