Somatics and phenomenological psychopathology: a mental health proposal.
Camilo Sánchez Sánchez
Theoretical medicine and bioethics October 2023 DOI: 10.1007/s11017-023-09618-2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Bodily movement Lived time Psychopathology Somatics |
| Key points | Argues that bodily movement and inter-corporeal 'proto-dialogue' constitute a prior realm of therapeutic intervention, and hypothesizes that the bodily qualitative dynamics highlighted by phenomenology are essential for effective mental health therapeutic intervention. Proposes a preliminary framework in which self-awareness education develops kinaesthetic intelligence and attunement and promotes edifying social relations and environments. |
Abstract
This work begins with a brief review - from the physical education movement that began in ancient Greece and is deeply rooted in 19th century Europe, to the somatics movement alive today. The review captures primary historical and conceptual references, relevant to the therapeutic-embodied exploratory work. Then, G. Stanghellini's mental health care model [2] is reviewed. This model is considered within reflexive self-awareness and spoken dialogue: the main vehicles in relation with alterity and its consequences in the realm of psychotherapeutic encounter and intervention. This will highlight the individual's bodily movement and inter-corporeal 'proto-dialogue' as a prior realm of therapeutic intervention. Next, a brief consideration of E. Strauss work [31] is presented. This paper's hypothesis is that bodily qualitative dynamics highlighted by phenomenology are essential for an effective mental health therapeutic intervention. A 'seed' of a framework is proposed in this paper; this seed assesses some phenomenological assets of a positive conception of mental health, for which self-awareness education is key to develop skills such as kinaesthetic intelligence and attunement and to educate healthy persons who can promote edifying social relations and environments.