The significance of hermeneutics to child psychotherapy

Increasingly the philosophical discipline of hermeneutics is being applied to a systematic study of the human sciences. Yet a hermeneutic approach to psychotherapy has barely been considered. In this paper, the possible significance of a hermeneutic approach to the field of child psychotherapy is explored. Despite the fundamental differences between the two disciplines, both are faced with the task of understanding and interpreting the meaning of human expressions through words and images. Both encounter texts that call for deciphering. The author focuses first on the central concepts of experience, understanding and interpretation which lie at the heart of both disciplines. Subsequently, a hermeneutic approach to the expressions of experience in the form of child play and narratives is explored and some implications for child psychotherapy are drawn. Finally, a possible hermeneutic approach towards child psychotherapy is discussed.