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Three epistemological obstacles to the recognizing of subjectivity in clinical psychology

In this article, epistemological obstacles are understood as a kind of though construction that does not integrate the complexity and the different conditions of the subjective process. The text begins with an introduction about the trajectory of subjectivity in both science and psychology. First, the subjectivity occupied a marginal place and it was seen as the oposite of objectivity; afterwards it became a central question, when it was reconized as an important moment to the construction of the knowledge. However, nowadays, clinical psychology faces huge difficulties, caused by the influences received from the dominant paradigm that are not coherent with the approach from the subjectivity. The epistemological obstacles -- general and totalitarian knowledge, trends toward patologization and hurried conclusions -- are examples of the influences that make subjectivity loose its potential as object of study, and, consequently, are opposed to the demands of this approach. This article seeks to show the main features of those obstacles and the possibilities of correction so as to suggest more coherents ways of thinking about and developing research on subjectivity.

Epistemological obstacles; epistemology; subjectivity; clinical psychology


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