The Deconstructive Experience

Logocentrism was conceptualized by Jacques Derrida as connoting the assertion within Western philosophical traditions of certain assumed truths and the exclusion of alternative perspectives. In this paper, the author proposes that the concept of logocentrism may be usefully applied within the clinical situation to enrich understanding of splitting between idealized and devalued perceptions of self and others. He presents a case of a woman with borderline personality disorder to illustrate a logocentric self structure, as well as how common psychotherapeutic models inadvertently risk reinforcing such structures through the hierarchical nature of the patient-therapist relationship. The process of deconstructing logocentric self-structures is facilitated by the patient experiencing the therapist paradoxically as an extension of the self that sometimes behaves contrary to expectations. Such a deconstructive experience challenges reified perceptions of self and others, serves to broaden the experience of self, and enhances qualities of self-reflection and empathy.