Phenomenological Descriptions

'AS IF...' Depersonalization and derealization are dissociative experiences frequently associated with intense and prolonged states of anxiety and stress , emerging as an adaptive response of the organism to such conditions. In depersonalization , the person experiences a sense of distancing from themselves, as if disconnected from their own body, emotions, or thoughts. Derealization , in turn, refers to an alteration in the experience of the world, which comes to be perceived as strange, artificial, lifeless, or “unreal,” even though the person knows, at a cognitive level, that nothing has in fact changed. In both cases, these are not delusions nor a loss of contact with reality, but rather a profound modification in the quality of lived experience . My Experience I experienced continuous symptoms of depersonalization and derealization for five years (from 2004 to 2009), as a consequence of a period of extremely intense anxiety. At the time, I was almost obsessively engaged in...

An alternative explanation for the functioning of EMDR therapy based on phenomenological insights EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapeutic approach created by Francine Shapiro, widely used in the treatment of trauma, especially PTSD, but also applied to anxiety, phobias, grief, and disturbing emotional experiences. Basically, the patient is asked to evoke a disturbing memory ( image, thought, emotion, and bodily sensation ) while receiving alternating bilateral stimulation, mainly through guided eye movements (right–left), although alternating taps on the hands or alternating sounds in the ears can also be used. A possible alternative explanation, grounded in phenomenological insights, for the effects observed in EMDR can be formulated based on the somatodynamic organization of emotional experience. Here, I start from the hypothesis, supported by phenomenological observations, that emotions generally seem to have bodily pathways of tension organizatio...

  Attention from the Inside and from the Outside I notice that there are at least two distinct ways of directing attention to the body: One seems to “ come from inside ,” and the other, “ from outside .” As if attention moved along different axes — one as if it traveled through the body from within, and the other as if it traveled through the body from without, yet both reaching the same point. "From inside" : attention is oriented through an activity in the throat region, moving from its interior and proceeding inward toward the part of the body on which it focuses. This subtle inner posture  seems to be more closely related to emotions (see emotion  and attention ). "From outside": the movement in the throat seems first to ascend toward the eyes — which tense slightly — and, in this way, attention projects outward, then turning back toward the part of the body to which it is directed. In this configuration, perception tends to concentrate more on the surface o...

Creativity  arises from unique combinations of knowledge , reasoning , imaginations , experiences , and perceptions . To be creative is to go beyond the obvious, exploring new perspectives and finding unexpected solutions. It is the ability to generate new, original, and/or useful ideas — at least for the person who conceives them at that moment. Even if the idea has already been conceived and developed by someone else before, if it's new to the person creating it now — meaning they have no prior knowledge of it — they are still engaging their creativity. As mentioned in the description of this blog , what truly matters here is not so much the content of the idea (or of any experience) — whether it is good or not, whether it is absolutely original or not — but rather the experience of the process itself — in this case, the creative process. Creativity is everywhere Creativity manifests itself in a wide range of fields — such as the arts, philosophy, science, everyday problem-solvi...

Flow is a concept developed by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi to describe a state of deep concentration in which a person is fully immersed in the activity they are performing. For this state to occur, the task cannot be so easy that it leads to boredom, nor so difficult that it causes stress. It needs to be at a point of balance: challenging enough to demand sustained attention, but still within the person's capabilities. In this moment, it’s as if the individual enters a flow — a fluid, immersive movement — where everything is directed toward the action. The person becomes, so to speak, the activity itself. Have you ever experienced something like this? Can you remember what situation and activity brought it about? And what was it like to be in that state? Before I continue with my phenomenological description of this experience, try to explore how it manifests in you. 〰 Note: The experience of flow is relatively rare for me. Still, I can recall a few situations in which ...

Visual, Kinesthetic, and Tactile Imaginations Visual imagination is the ability to create mental images or visual representations of objects, scenes, or events that are not present at the moment.  It is a cognitive process in which the mind recreates, modifies, or visualizes something based on memories, past experiences, or even fictional elements.  Unlike visual perception, which involves capturing images from the external world through the senses, visual imagination does not rely on the presence of real visual stimuli. Kinesthetic imagination is the ability to mentally create representations of movements without those movements actually occurring.  This form of imagination involves recreating motor experiences, such as the sensation of walking, running, picking up an object, or performing a specific movement.  Just as visual imagination works with images, kinesthetic imagination works with the sensation of movement, using memories or past experiences. Tactile ima...