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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 1–4Cite as

Phenomenology and Family Therapy

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Name of Theory

Phenomenology and Family Therapy

Introduction

The term “phenomenology” simply refers to what the word itself suggests: the study of phenomena, or more explicitly, the study of our experience of things (Becker 1992). Brute reality, for all human beings, is existence, being, and consciousness (Smith 2018). This initial state of existence, familiar to all living creatures, is where phenomenology begins.

Prominent Associated Figures

Popularized by German philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), phenomenology sees human experience as the bedrock of both existence and knowledge: as Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980), a disciple of Husserl, famously asserted, “existence precedes essence.” In other words, for Husserl and Sartre, phenomenology could be seen as an ontological statement, or, more properly, ontology could be seen as phenomenological statement: before we consider abstract concepts, before we form a worldview, before we consciously interact with the world, we exist, and we experience...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Counseling Psychology Doctoral Student, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA

    Anthony Rose

  2. Private Psychotherapy Practice, West Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Paul Murray

Authors
  1. Anthony Rose
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  2. Paul Murray
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anthony Rose .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Kelley Quirk

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Adam R. Fisher

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Rose, A., Murray, P. (2019). Phenomenology and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_949-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_949-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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