ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Nuno Ramalho & Diogo Telles Correia

The phenomenological approach in psychiatry: a comprehensive exploration of its roots, developments, and contemporary variations

Phenomenology is a philosophical movement that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century with Edmund Husserl. It had its theoretical roots in the philosophy that preceded it, and after Husserl it developed and spread into various fields of knowledge. Husserl’s pure phenomenology made possible the development of other subsequent phenomenologies that have contributed greatly to theorizing in psychiatry. Existential phenomenology, embodied phenomenology, neurophenomenology, critical phenomenology and psychopathological phenomenology are examples of the phenomenologies that have contributed most to psychiatry. These have both similarities and diff erences with early Husserlian phenomenology. Moreover, despite the fact that they are directly derived from the same philosophical school, they may even be incompatible with each other. This article explores the diff erent types of phenomenology, noting their points of convergence and divergence. 

Keywords:

phenomenology, psychopathology, reduction, existential, embodied, neurophenomenology

Dial Phil Ment Neuro Sci 2023; 16 (2): 38-52

Received on November 07, 2023
Accepted on January 31, 2024
Firstly published online on July 26, 2024