TITLE:
Experiencing, Psychopathology, and the Tripartite Mind
AUTHORS:
Douglas Ozier, Chris Westbury
KEYWORDS:
Emotion; Consciousness; Eugene Gendlin; Experiencing; Neuropsychology; Psychopathology; Psychotherapy; Self-Related Processing; Embodied Cognition; Phenomenology
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science,
Vol.3 No.2,
May
24,
2013
ABSTRACT: The philosopher Eugene Gendlin argues that a distinctive
mode of reasoning, called experiencing,
is necessary for working through personally salient problems such as are
encountered in psychotherapy. We review supporting empirical support. It
is now possible to consider Gendlin’s ideas from a neurological perspective.
Work directed at understanding the neurological underpinnings of
consciousness and self-related processing, as well as comparative neuroanatomical
work, are all consistent with and elucidated by Gendlin’s experiencing
construct. We argue from this data that the human mind is composed of three
interacting systems that are unique to or enhanced in humans compared to other
primates. Two are dedicated to “hot and cold” cognition. The most important,
least well-studied third system is dedicated to mediating between these forms
of cognition. We outline how interactions between these systems define
different forms of psychopathology and what they suggest about the structure of
the human mind.