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"Measuring up to measure" dysmorphophobia as a language game
Elena Faccio1, Chiara Centomo, Giuseppe Mininni
1Department of Applied Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy. elena.faccio@unipd.it
Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science
|July 13, 2011
Summary
This study explores how psychotherapy transforms meaning through language, applying Wittgenstein's theories to reframe experiences. It suggests therapy can help individuals overcome linguistic traps by developing new narratives for their challenges.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Post-modern theory posits therapy alters experience by intervening in linguistic rules.
- Foucault highlights how language shapes our understanding of mental states.
- Psychotherapy can be viewed as a narrative process for relabeling experiences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To apply Wittgenstein's concepts of language games and perspicuous representation to psychotherapy.
- To explore the transformation of meaning in therapeutic contexts.
- To offer a clinical application for understanding and treating issues like dysmorphophobia.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of Wittgenstein's philosophy of language.
- Application of linguistic and semiotic theories to therapeutic processes.
- Case illustration using dysmorphophobia as an example of a "language game".
Main Results:
- Wittgenstein's 'perspicuous representation' can offer alternatives to linguistically constructed "traps".
- Therapy facilitates a narrative path toward new naming of reified experiences.
- Understanding the "language game" of a condition can help resolve semiotic blockages.
Conclusions:
- Psychotherapy's efficacy lies in reframing experiences through linguistic and narrative change.
- Wittgenstein's philosophical insights provide a framework for therapeutic intervention.
- Addressing the linguistic construction of problems is key to therapeutic progress.
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