Phenomenological therapy is about your internal truth: your perceptions of being in your own body, in your own mind, and in the world. In this type of therapy, we begin with curiosity about your lived experience. We both strive to enter into the process without guesses, assumptions, or judgments about what we might find.
A phenomenon is a truth we can observe through the senses. So, expertise about your mental and emotional states lives inside you, not in studies and procedures. Those more objective resources can give additional knowledge about what’s going on in your life or where you need support. For that matter, my interpretations can also give knowledge. But that’s never where I start.
Part of phenomenological therapy involves understanding the essence of something. We use openness and curiosity to break through cultural beliefs, social conditioning, cognitive interpretations, family narratives, and self-judgments. The goal is to understand the thing itself: the emotion, physical sensation, thought, or memory that is important in the present moment.
Benefits of phenomenological therapy
This type of therapy is closely connected to existential therapy. Both are about engaging with present-moment awareness to understand the nuances of your subjective experience in the world. What we learn through the phenomenological process gives you material to work with as you create meaning in your life.
The phenomenological approach is anti-oppressive by nature, as all aspects of your identity and embodied experience are at the center of our understanding. Many mainstream modes of therapy are designed to guide clients toward normality as a solution to emotional “problems.” But the opposite is actually true: relieving distress comes when we name the subjugation that produces distress in the first place and embrace liberation, rather than conformity, as the goal.
Through phenomenological therapy, clients develop embodied awareness, gain self-trust, and learn to be in tune with their thinking and feeling so that they can better meet their own needs. In undertaking a journey inward, you can find answers to your most important questions.
Perhaps the most profound benefit is in liberating yourself from a system that labels normal and abnormal, inviting you to learn what authentic being and action is for you.
Read more about phenomenological therapy on Mad in America.
