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An Experiential Approach to Psychopathology

What is it like to Suffer from Mental Disorders?

  • Describes the subjective experiences of persons with a wide variety of mental disorders

  • Uses detailed case studies to introduce the reader directly to the patient’s lived world

  • Presents challenging concepts in a way that will be understandable for students and clinicians trained in different perspectives

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Table of contents (20 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vi
  2. Gender Dysphoria

    • Giovanni Castellini
    Pages 79-95
  3. An Experiential Approach to Dissociative Phenomena

    • Luis Madeira, Maria Luisa Figueira
    Pages 97-112
  4. Varieties of Mind-Body Disunity

    • Robert D. Stolorow, George E. Atwood
    Pages 113-125
  5. Anorexia Nervosa: Historical, Clinical, Biographical, and Phenomenological Considerations

    • Otto Doerr-Zegers, Héctor Pelegrina-Cetrán
    Pages 127-147
  6. Alcohol-Induced Psychotic Disorders

    • M. Musalek, O. Scheibenbogen, A. Schuster
    Pages 149-161
  7. Capgras Syndrome

    • Femi Oyebode
    Pages 231-244
  8. Perplexity

    • Clara S. Humpston, Matthew R. Broome
    Pages 245-264
  9. Self-Disorders in Schizophrenia

    • Mads Gram Henriksen, Julie Nordgaard
    Pages 265-280
  10. Autism in Schizophrenia: A Phenomenological Study

    • Massimo Ballerini
    Pages 281-300
  11. Hallucination

    • J. Cutting
    Pages 301-315
  12. Fear and Trembling: A Case Study of Voice Hearing in Schizophrenia as a Self-Disorder

    • Marino Pérez-Álvarez, Oscar Vallina-Fernández, José M. García-Montes, Louis A. Sass
    Pages 317-335
  13. Painful Affect in the Experience and Treatment of Schizophrenia

    • Jay A. Hamm, Paul H. Lysaker
    Pages 347-360

About this book

This book introduces the reader to a clear and consistent method for in-depth exploration of subjective psychopathological experiences with the aim of helping to restore the ability within psychiatry and clinical psychology to draw qualitative distinctions between mental symptoms that are only apparently similar, thereby promoting a more precise characterization of experiential phenotypes. A wide range of mental disorders are considered in the book, each portrayed by a distinguished clinician. Each chapter begins with the description of a paradigmatic case study in order to introduce the reader directly to the patient’s lived world. The first-person perspective of the patient is the principal focus of attention. The essential, defining features of each psychopathological phenomenon and the meaning that the patient attaches to it are carefully analyzed in order to “make sense” of the patient’s apparently nonsensical experiences. In the second part of each chapter, the case study is discussed within the context of relevant literature and a detailed picture of the state of the art concerning the psychopathological understanding of the phenomenon at issue is provided.  

An Experiential Approach to Psychopathology, and the method it proposes, may be considered the result of convergence of classic phenomenological psychopathological concepts and updated clinical insights into patients’ lived experiences. It endorses three key principles: subjective phenomena are the quintessential feature of mental disorders; their qualitative study is mandatory; phenomenology has developed a rigorous method to grasp “what it is like” to be a person experiencing psychopathological phenomena. While the book is highly relevant for expert clinical phenomenologists, it is written in a way that will be readily understandable for trainees and young clinicians.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Psycho,Humanis.&Terr. Sci, Uni"D.Portales",Chile,&Uni“G.D’Annunzio”, Chieti, Italy

    Giovanni Stanghellini

  • Sapienza Univ&Crossing Dialogues Assoc., Rome, Italy

    Massimiliano Aragona

About the editors

Prof. Dr. Giovanni Stanghellini, University “G. D’Annunzio”, Department of Psychological, Humanistic and Territorial Sciences, Chieti, Italy, and University "D. Portales", Santiago, Chile 


Prof. Dr. Massimiliano Aragona, Sapienza University, School of Psychiatry. Rome, Italy

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: An Experiential Approach to Psychopathology

  • Book Subtitle: What is it like to Suffer from Mental Disorders?

  • Editors: Giovanni Stanghellini, Massimiliano Aragona

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29945-7

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Medicine, Medicine (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-29943-3Published: 19 August 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-80691-4Published: 09 June 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-29945-7Published: 09 August 2016

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VI, 383

  • Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Psychiatry, Psychology, general

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access