La méthode d’analyse phénoméno-structurale : approches psychopathologique, projective et créative

Context

After a period of low-key development, phenomenology is once again gaining ground in psychiatry, as well as in clinical psychology and psychopathology. It is becoming particularly relevant in these fields, where the observation of phenomena and the quest for structures to organize them are very appropriate clinical tools for understanding the subject.

Objectives

The aims of this article are, on the one hand, to review the development of structural phenomenology in the human and medical sciences, and on the other hand, to explore its relationship to creative processes in order to support pragmatic reflection on patient care.

Method

This study is based on the clinical case of a 14-year-old adolescent with Williams & Beuren syndrome. After six years of institutional care, he participated in a program of eight sessions of art therapy designed to retrace his pathway for access to pre-professionalization. Our evaluation is based on a test/retest evaluative clinic using the Rorschach projective test and the Content Analysis Grids centered on the Phenomeno-structural Approach (GACAPS) developed by L. Schiltz.

Results

We noted an improvement in the adolescent's attention and social skills, as well as an increase in his ability to mobilize his imagination and to access the elaboration of his thoughts. However, the phenomeno-structural analysis, aside from the increasing number of creative responses, enabled us to detect invasive anxieties, which make us fear that, with him, this existential stage of a rite of passage represents a risk that could lead to psychotic problems.

Discussion

Phenomenology, given that it is a subtle method, only makes sense if practiced in the world of real life, where “being in the same landscape” becomes as much a diagnostic tool as it is a treatment process. The Rorschach Test with its GACAPS analysis grids, as well as the IPSE method (Processus inductif d’analyse de la structure de l’expérience vécue - Inductive Process for the Analysis of the Structure of Lived Experience), are pragmatic tools providing relevant results in a context of a clinic of modernity.