This master thesis is concerned with the act of recognizing. Recognition is often used in common language and sounds quite approachable and simple in its everyday use. However, recognition as a term was conceptualized a long time ago in the paradigm of philosophy, where it seems to be a more complex term. This thesis wants to explore the transformation of the term and figure out whether the recognition as a term changes, through the transformation from philosophy to psychological practice, in client-centered therapy. Furthermore this thesis will explore whether there are challenges in the use of recognition in therapeutically situations in both client-centered - and especially in existential therapy.
The etiology of recognition was founded in the philosophy of Hegel and Honneth. From their theories it was clear that recognition was essential for a human being´s existence and identity. The constitution of recognition was then found in the client-centered therapy, which turned out to be a little different form the definition of recognition in philosophy. In client-centered therapy recognition is a tool for the therapist to use in the therapeutically practice. This makes it clear, that there has been a transformation of the term recognition from philosophy to psychology.
The application of recognition was studied in already completed qualitative material from both client-centered therapy and existential therapy. This material underwent an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to find out how recognition was implemented in therapy with emphasis on the challenges this could cause.
The discussion of the etiology of recognition, it becomes clear that the grounds of investigating recognition in philosophy are different from the grounds of discussing recognition in psychology. The term of recognition has gone through a change of paradigm, which has changes recognition in several ways.
Recognition is not as easy as first assumed. This becomes clear in the discussion from the analysis. There are numerous challenges in recognizing the client in therapy, because the therapist is biased from his/her own life. This makes it difficult to fully step in to the role of being a present therapist, with ethic and responsibility in mind. Therefore a therapist must be aware of his/her own emotions and role, to be able to overcome these challenges in therapy, and fully recognize the client. To really understand recognition one must understand the etiology behind the term to use it correctly in psychotherapeutically practice.