PSYCHOTHERAPY OF THE LIVED SPACE: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CONCEPT

Article

Abstract

[In English]

Based on phenomenological and ecological psychology, the
paper develops the concept of lived space as the totality of an individual’s
spatial and social relationships including the «horizon
of possibilities». The lived space may also be regarded as the individual’s
ecological niche that is continuously shaped by his\her
exchange with the environment. Mental illness may then be conceived
as a limitation or deformation of the patient’s lived space inhibiting
his/her responsivity and exchange with the environment.
Unconscious dysfunctional patterns of feeling and behaving act as
«blind spots» or «curvatures» in lived space that lead to typical distortions,
thereby further restricting the patient’s potentialities and
development. Accordingly, the task of psychotherapy is to explore
and understand the patient’s lived space in order to re-open his/
her horizon of possibilities. !e main agent for this purpose is the
interactive field of psychotherapy that may be regarded as a «fusion
of horizons» of the patient’s and the therapist’s world.