Openness In Psychotherapy: Late Heidegger And The Clearing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65828/g4s0r429Keywords:
Openness, the clearing (die Lichtung), Gelassenheit, not-knowing, anxiety, aletheia, mindfulness, phenomenologyAbstract
Readily acknowledged but rarely understood, Openness, as a concept in psychotherapy, invites further attention. This paper takes philosophy as its starting point and continues by exploring the writings of therapists from across the spectrum of modalities. It also incorporates recent, personal research in order to elucidate a therapeutic understanding of Openness. This review into Openness begins with an image: Heidegger's forest clearing (die Lichtung), his metaphor for the Openness of Being. Following on from this, the subject is approached through a series of descriptions: the nature of Self, therapeutic presence and similarities between Openness and mindfulness. At the same time, the paper acknowledges the difficulties experienced by therapist when staying-with the anxiety evoked by Openness. In short, this paper sheds light on how therapists embody Openness in their work.
Complete access to the full archive of articles is available with SEA membership. Existing members: please log in with your membership password to view full text. Non-members can buy a single article or issue by registering an account on this website, then selecting a padlocked full text button to purchase.
References
Adams, W. (1995). Revelatory openness wedded with the clarity of unknowing. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought. 18, pp 463-494.
Askay, R. & Farquhar, J. (2006). Apprehending the Inaccessible. Illinois: Northwestern University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv47wb9v
Bakewell, S. (2016). At the Existential Café: Freedom, being and apricot cocktails. London: Chatto & Windus.
Bion, W. (1970). Attention and Interpretation: A scientific approach to insight in psychoanalysis and group. London: Karnac Books.
Boss, M. (1963). Psychoanalysis and Daseinsanalysis. New York: Basic Books.
Bradford, K. (2017) Drawing from a deeper well: Contemplative Asian sources of radical existential thought.Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 28:1, pp 118-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/2qahm024
Brooke, R. (1991). Jung and Phenomenology. London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315766690
Capobianco, R. (2010). Engaging Heidegger. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442687172
Cohn, H. (1997). Existential Thought and Therapeutic Practice. London: Sage.
Coltart, N. (1993). Slouching Towards Bethlehem. London: Free Association Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.23338312
Condrau, G. (1998). Martin Heidegger's Impact on Psychotherapy. Dublin: Edition Mosaic.
Craig, E. (2008). The Human and the Hidden; Existential Wonderings about Depth, Soul and the Unconscious. The Humanistic Psychologist. 36, pp 227-282. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08873260802391588
Dahlberg, K., Dahlberg, H. & Nystrom, M. (2008). Reflective Lifeworld Research. 2nd Edition, Lund, Sweden: Studentliteratur.
Deurzen, E. van (1998). Paradox and Passion in Psychotherapy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Deurzen, E. van (2009). Everyday Mysteries. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge.
Epstein, M. (1995). Thoughts Without a Thinker. New York: Basic Books.
Epstein, M. (2007). Psychotherapy Without the Self. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300150254
Freud, S. (1976). Introductory Lectures to Psychoanalysis. Strachey, J. (ed.). London: Penguin Books.
Heidegger, M. (1927/1962). Being and Time. (trans. Macquarrie & Robinson). Oxford: Blackwells Publishing.
Heidegger, M. (1969). Discourse on Thinking. New York: Harper & Row.
Heidegger, M. (1992). Parmenides. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Heidegger, M. (1993). Basic Writings. Farrell Krell, D. (ed.). San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.
Heidegger, M. (1994). Basic Questions of Philosophy. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvt1shwp
Heidegger, M. (2001). Zollikon Seminars. Illinois: Northwestern University Press.
Hillman, J. (1992). Re-visioning Psychology. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
Hollis, J. (2005). Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life. New York: Gotham Books.
Holzhey-Kunz, A. (2014). Daseinsanalysis. Free Association Books.
Jung, C. (1963). Foreword and commentary. In Wilhelm, R. The Secret of the Golden Flower. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315009179
Jung, C. (1968). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. 2nd edition London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315725642
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever You Go There You Are. New York: Hyperion.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005). Coming to Our Senses. New York: Hyperion.
Khong, B. (2003). Buddha, being and the Black Forest. The Humanistic Psychologist. 31 (4), pp 97-111. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.2003.9986936
Khong, B. (2013). Being a therapist – Contributions of Heidegger's philosophy and the Buddha's teachings to psychotherapy. The Humanistic Psychologist. 41, pp 231-246. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.2013.779908
King, R. (2015). Light and shadow in the forest: A phenomenological exploration of Heidegger's clearing (die Lichtung). Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 26:1, pp 103 -118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/5mdcqp35
King, R. (2017). The Clearing of Being: A phenomenological study of openness in psychotherapy [doctoral thesis Middlesex University http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/22643/]
Kirschenbaum, H. & Henderson, V. (1990). The Carl Rogers Reader. London: Constable.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226470993.001.0001
May, R. (1975). The Courage to Create. New York: Bantam Books.
May, R. (1996). Heidegger's Hidden Sources. Abingdon Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203979792
Nanda, J. (2009). Mindfulness: A lived experience of existential-phenomenological themes. Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 20:1, pp 147-162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/qttpgq77
Parkes, G. (1987). Heidegger and Asian Thought. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824845384
Pearmain, R. (2001). The Heart of Listening. London: Continuum.
Schmid, P. (2001). Comprehension: the art of not-knowing. Dialogical and ethical perspectives on empathy as dialogue facing the unexpected in personal and person-centred relationships. In Haugh & Merry, Empathy. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS.
Sharr, A. (2006). Heidegger's Hut. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Spinelli, E. (1989). The Interpreted World. London: Sage.
Spinelli, E. (2007). Practicing Existential Psychotherapy. London: Sage.
Tacey, D. (2012). The Jung Reader. London and New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203721049
Todres, L. (2007). Embodied Enquiry. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230598850
van Manen, M. (1990). Researching Lived Experience. Albany: State University of New York.
van Manen, M. (2002). Writing in the Dark. Ontario: The Althouse Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315415574
van Manen, M. (2014). Phenomenology of Practice. Walnut Creek CA: Left Coast Press.
Weber, S. (2003). The analyst's surrender. In Safran Psychoanalysis and Buddhism. pp 169-197. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Welwood, J. (1983). Awakening the Heart. Boston & London: Shambhala.
Wilhelm, R. (1963). The Secret of the Golden Flower. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315009179
Watts, M. (2011). The Philosophy of Heidegger. London and New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/upo9781844652655
Zimmer, M. (1986). Eclipse of the Self. Revised Edition. Athens London: Ohio University Press.
