Values and Values-based Practice

This article describes the contribution of phenomenology to values-based practice in mental health through two case studies, respectively of delusion and anorexia. Taken together these case studies show the need in psychopathology for a combined values-based practice drawing equally on the resources of phenomenology and of analytic philosophy of values. The essay outlines the resources for further development of such a combined values-based practice respectively from phenomenological psychopathology (illustrated by research on schizophrenia) and the phenomenology of values (illustrated by the work of Husserl, Scheler, and Ricouer). The article concludes with an indication of the extent to which analytic philosophy of values and phenomenology are natural partners in the development of a combined analytic/phenomenological, values-based practice fit for purpose in meeting the particular values challenges of psychopathology.