ABSTRACT
This paper, which opens with a description of what might be considered an instance of extrasensory perception in the therapeutic encounter, argues that the concepts of extrasensory perception and the paranormal are embedded in a debate in which therapists need not become involved. It argues that the discipline of parapsychology, and therefore the terms ‘paranormal’ and ‘extrasensory perception’ are embedded within a scientific narrative. In seeking to become accepted by the scientific establishment, parapsychology has entered into a debate with that establishment. This debate is of no consequence to therapeutic practice: the search for objectivity is irrelevant to understanding what happens in the therapeutic encounter. This paper suggests that the subjective basis of Phenomenology is more appropriate to psychotherapy and counselling research. It analyses the opening account and suggests that phenomenological description enables us to uncover some of the richness – and oddness – of the therapeutic encounter. The senses and the imagination are not separate faculties, but entangled in a way that enables us to make contact with the hidden or invisible aspects of the world. A phenomenological attitude of ‘curiosity and disciplined naiveté’ enables us to understand something of the complex, subtle and sometimes uncanny nature of communication and perception.
