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This paper introduces and discusses the phenomenological approach as it may be applied in psychiatric and psychoanalytic study, and compares and contrasts it with the standard scientific approach. Clinical illustrations are presented, with the idea that complementary knowledge of the whole person can be obtained through the phenomenological approach that enhances our understanding of humans, and which would be lost if only the standard scientific methods were used. This is especially true in our study of preoedipal disorders and their clinical treatment.
Examples are given from the phenomenological approach to the study of infancy, closely related to new directions in self psychology,
Dr. Chessick is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at North western University; Senior Attending Psychiatrist, Evanston Hospital, Evans-ton, Illinois; and Fellow of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis.
and already before that developed in the orientation of Winnicott. The remarkable parallel to these findings of the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty is explained, and the utility of Merleau Ponty's conceptions in our clinical work is demonstrated. The overlap of findings using phenomenology in philosophy, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis suggests a fertile field for future research.