The role of the experience of beauty in psychotherapy

Abstract

The experience of beauty is inherently fulfilling for the human person and, as such, appears to be relevant to mental health and the practice of psychotherapy. However, beauty has been given relatively little attention in clinical psychology, even if treatises on the topic abound in other disciplines. With the advent of positive psychology, there has been increasing emphasis on that which makes for a good human life, and in this context appreciation for the topic of beauty has emerged in the psychological literature. The goal of this dissertation is to articulate a clear framework for understanding beauty and then to identify implications of experiencing beauty for the practice of psychotherapy. There are recent accounts of appreciation for and engagement with beauty in positive psychology. Aesthetics has also become a source of interest among neuroscientists and evolutionary theorists. Several of these theories and perspectives are reviewed and critiqued. It is argued that scientific methods are not able to provide an adequate understanding of beauty and its role in mental health. In turn, a phenomenological account of beauty that is grounded in philosophical realism is provided. This account of beauty is linked to mental health based on a biopsychosocial-spiritual model of the human person. The latter part of this dissertation is focused on implications and applications for psychotherapy. It is argued that a therapeutic stance attentive to beauty facilitates a strong therapeutic alliance, effective intervention, and protection for the therapist against burnout. A beauty-based perspective on structuring the office space, assessing clients, and planning interventions is then provided. Rather than a new and distinct therapeutic orientation, experiencing beauty is presented as a vital dimension of human life that can inform the work of psychotherapy in various ways. Paths for future research are suggested; however, this initial inquiry supports the conclusion that psychotherapists would benefit from incorporating a beauty-based perspective into their work in order to facilitate symptom-reduction and, ultimately, human flourishing.