ABSTRACT
Existential-phenomenological supervisors will often draw on phenomenology for a method of working. This chapter introduces the reader to phenomenological investigation. There are a number of different approaches to phenomenology and these are briefly introduced and compared. However, the book draws mainly on Husserl and Heidegger.
The chapter then introduces the practical aspects of the approach for use in supervision. This includes the use of ‘bracketing’ as an aid to avoiding any assumptions, prejudices, or beliefs which make it more difficult for the supervisor to attend to the worldview of the supervisee. Once the supervisor can openly listen, they are able to identify and summarise themes which are all given equal importance; Husserl refers to this as ‘horizontalization’. A supervisor would be looking to see it their supervisee was exhibiting these skills in their client work.
