Psychotherapy Research and the Study of the First Person Experience

Abstract

Over the last years, the first person methodologies have been transformed into a valid and significant alternative, different from the classic quantitative and qualitative methods. In contrast with other perspectives, the first person approach considers that the subject is able to observe and give a direct account of his subjective process. However, this process, far from being spontaneous and automatic, requires a phenomenological training. The article discusses the notion of “the first person” starting with the works of Varela and Husserl’s Phenomenology. We will review the principal procedures of this methodology and we will describe examples of this kind of research in the field of psychopathology, highlighting the contributions that this approach may provide in order to close the gap between practice and research.