Interpretative phenomenological analysis and embodied interpretation: Integrating methods to find the ‘words that work’

Background This article identifies one enduring and coherent strand within the phenomenological tradition, which recognises the intertwined relationship between the lifeworld and the lived body. The understanding that our body shapes our fundamental view of the world is also considered important within IPA. Embodied interpretation has been developed in response to a growing trend towards an aesthetic phenomenology, which aims to ‘carry forward’ the meaning of a phenomenon in all its complexity and texture. Aim and Method With the aim of facilitating the development of emotionally receptive forms of understanding, it is proposed that an embodied interpretation can be successfully integrated into IPA via the application of Gendlin's method of focusing. An application of the method is demonstrated, and its contribution is evaluated. Conclusion Attendance to the researcher's bodily response to the research data is understood as enabling the production of ‘words that work’ for the participant, author, and reader alike