A clinical concept of the self: the experiential being

This paper proposes a clinical concept of the self as experiential being. Such a concept offers the triple advantage of being non-reductive, introducing experience as a clinical unit of analysis and intervention, and viewing a representational capacity to experience as a crucial element towards the construction of 'T'. The central importance of 'experience' in health and disorder is addressed, followed by a characterization of the processes of 'going through', the integration of 'experience' into 'I' and the processes of defence, which are viewed from the perspective of the experiential being. Experience, or 'going through', has five defining characteristics: awareness, motivation, linking, learning and evolution. The processing of 'experience' on two levels, the representational level and the level of the experimental being, leads to the integration of experience into "I'. The owning of experience, and not defence, is seen as the key factor in health and disorder. As the capacity to own experience, which includes the owning of defence, is the key to the road to health, it is argued that clinical intervention must focus on the person's capacity to own all his or her experiences.