Alongside our original research, members of the group write for educational purposes — introductions to phenomenological qualitative methods, overviews of fields such as phenomenological psychopathology, and similar pieces for students and researchers new to applied phenomenology.
If you’re looking for specific studies, such as those on depression, pain, psychotherapy, or freediving — rather than educational work on theory and methods — check out the individual webpages of our group Members.
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Theorizing with phenomenology.
Raza, S., & Fernandez, A. V. (2026). Social Science Information.Shows how social scientists use phenomenology to develop new theoretical accounts of the phenomena they study
Existential Phenomenology and Qualitative Research.
Fernandez, A. V. (2024). In K. Aho, M. Altman, & H. Pedersen (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism. Routledge.Shows how qualitative researchers draw on existential phenomenology — including the work of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty — to inform study design and data analysis
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Front-Loaded Phenomenology in Qualitative Research: An Introduction and Practical Overview.
Stilwell, P., Gallagher, S., Køster, A., Ravn, S. L., Wideman, T. H., & Fernandez, A. V. (2025). International Journal of Qualitative Methods.A good starting point for how to conduct theory-driven, phenomenological qualitative research
Investigating Modes of Being in the World: An Introduction to Phenomenologically Grounded Qualitative Research.
Køster, A., Fernandez, A.V. (2023). Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences.Introduces Phenomenologically Grounded Qualitative Research (PGQR), one of the conceptual approaches the 2025 paper above builds on
Taking Phenomenology Beyond the First-person Perspective: Conceptual Grounding in the Collection and Analysis of Observational Evidence.
Klinke, M.E., Fernandez, A.V. (2023). Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences.Extends phenomenologically grounded research to observational study designs, useful when participants cannot reliably reflect on their own experiences
Phenomenological Research Needs to be Renewed: Time to Integrate Enactivism as a Flexible Resource.
Stilwell, P., & Harman, K. (2021). International Journal of Qualitative Methods.Argues for integrating enactivism into phenomenological qualitative research as a flexible alternative to traditional phenomenological approaches that bracket theory
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Psychiatry and Phenomenology.
Fernandez, A. V. (2024). In N. de Warren & T. Toadvine (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Phenomenology. Springer.A good starting point for understanding phenomenology's influence on psychiatry, and psychiatry's reciprocal contributions to philosophical phenomenology
Phenomenology, Psychopathology, and Pre-Reflective Experience.
Fernandez, A. V. (2023). In J. R. Thompson (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Implicit Cognition. Routledge.Clarifies phenomenology's concept of the "pre-reflective" and shows it can be used to understand psychopathological conditions
On the Subject Matter of Phenomenological Psychopathology.
Fernandez, A. V., & Køster, A. (2019). In G. Stanghellini et al. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Phenomenological Psychopathology. Oxford University Press.Provides a framework for phenomenological psychopathology by distinguishing (ontological) existentials from (ontic) modes, outlining two levels of analysis
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Reconceptualizing Pain-related Behaviour: Introducing the Concept of Bodily Doubt
Fernandez, A. V., Hartvigsen, J., Ravn, S., Stilwell, P., & Kongsted, A. (2023). European Journal of Pain.Introduces the phenomenological concept of bodily doubt as a way to reconceptualize pain-related behaviour
What is Pain-Related Suffering? Conceptual Critiques, Key Attributes, and Outstanding Questions
Stilwell, P., Hudon, A., Meldrum, K., Pagé, M. G., & Wideman, T. H. (2022). The Journal of Pain.Critiques Cassell's classic account of suffering and proposes key attributes for an updated operationalization of pain-related suffering
An Enactive Approach to Pain: Beyond the Biopsychosocial Model
Stilwell, P., & Harman, K. (2019). Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences.Introduces an enactive approach to pain by critiquing and building on the biopsychosocial model
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Understanding subjective experience in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: The need for phenomenology.
Miceli McMillan, R., & Fernandez, A. V. (2023). Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.Shows how common assessment tools have trouble distinguishing among different kinds of psychedelic experiences, and outlines a phenomenological qualitative research program to provide better conceptualizations
In the dropdown menus, you can find our key educational resources organized by topic.