"‘Suspended from shaky scaffolding, we secure ourselves with our fixations.’ A phenomenological and Gestalt exploration of obsessive-compulsive disorder "

Abstract

Abstract: This article presents an approach to obsessive–compulsive disorder based on Gestalt therapy theory, Gestalt psychology, and psychiatric phenomenology. After establishing a diagnostic framework, the experiences of clients are explored, starting from the experience of space and time, of the relationship between details and the whole, of boundaries, and of materiality. In the light of the Gestalt theory of perception, the obsessive– compulsive symptom is framed as a creative adjustment able to protect the client from much worse suffering, in a situation in which the bodily sensorial ground is permeated with terror. After describing how the obsessive–compulsive field is aesthetically actualised in therapy, a number of issues and passages are highlighted that can help therapists in their journey with the sufferers. Keywords: obsessive–compulsive disorder, Gestalt therapy, phenomenology, Gestalt psychology, perception, psychopathology, psychopathological field, language, aesthetics.