Phenomenology in Clinical Practice

Phenomenology in Clinical Practice introduces core concepts of Husserlian phenomenology and applies them to the understanding and treatment of affective and personality disorders in clinical settings. Dr. Susi Ferrarello illuminates the source of emotional cycles and instability and offers mental health practitioners guided approaches to addressing affective disorders, alleviating disturbances, and promoting integration. Designed for mental health professionals and students in psychology, psychiatry, and medical humanities, this book bridges theory and practice through case-based applications and accessible explanations of philosophical concepts. It offers a non-reductionist, lived-experience approach to mental health and aims to expand both academic and therapeutic perspectives on conditions such as C-PTSD, alexithymia, BPD, narcissism, and schizophrenia. Asserting that philosophical investigation can deepen an understanding of mental illness and care, the author invites readers to develop transformative approaches to address mental suffering with greater compassion and holistic awareness. This book is an indispensable tool for those working in mental health care, especially for those looking for new lived experience-based solutions for clinical and psychopathological problems. It is also an invaluable resource for graduate students and researchers, as well as people who are not philosophers but seek support in reflecting on the ethical, psychological, and social challenges that are present in clinical practice.

Susi Ferrarello, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at CSU East Bay and author of The Phenomenology of Pregnancy and Early Motherhood, The Ethics of Love, and Human Emotions and the Origin of Bioethics. She is also a philosophical counselor and writes for Psychology Today.

Introduction 1. Husserl and Phenomenology: The Risk of Reductionism in Clinical Practice 2. Epoche and Reductions: Dualism, Normality and Abnormality in the life-world 3. A Phenomenological Account of CPTSD 4. The Problem of Psychologism and Logicism in cases of Complex PTSD 5. Husserl's ethics and Schizophrenia 6. The Crisis of Medical Sciences as a Crisis of Meaning 7. Affects disorders 8. Emotional Blindness: A Phenomenological Account of Alexithymia and Empathy 9. Border Line Personality Disorders, Affects and Value Disruptions 10. Affects and Narcissism