The Inter-experiential Field: Perceptions and metaperceptions in person-centered and experiential psychotherapy

How can we understand the complex nexus of interpersonal relationships from a phenomenological, experiential standpoint? Drawing on theory and research from R. D. Laing's interpersonal phenomenology, social psychology, and interpersonal psychotherapy, this paper examines the disjunctions that may arise in people's perceptions of each other, and the highly destructive consequences that such disjunctions can have. It explores the questions of how people perceive, and misperceive, other people's experiences; how people perceive, and misperceive, others' perceptions of their experiences ('metaperceptions'); and the implications that such an analysis has for the practice of person-centered and experiential psychotherapy and counseling.