Let the Straw Man Speak Husserl's Phenomenology in Context

Abstract

Gestalt therapy has long acknowledged its indebtedness to phenomenological philosophy in general and to Edmund Husserl in particular, but ironically in a fashion that disregards the organic context of this work. The result is too often exemplified by discussions of phenomenology that either misrepresent its contribution to Gestalt therapy or apply its insights in stilted or inappropriate fashion. The literal translation of Husserl's reduction as psychotherapeutic method is a case in point. This article asks Gestalt therapy to assess Husserl's method in its own context and to appreciate his real contribution, which was no less than providing a philosophical foundation and justification for Gestalt therapy's reverence for human experience.