The chapter describes the value structure as an essential existential foundation from a phenomenological perspective. Psychosis can be understood as resulting from structural modifications of the self in anchoring the lifeworld, primarily due to failure in constructing intersubjectivity and common sense. This failure involves the axiological component of psychotic being-in-the-world. The approach is observed for its therapeutic possibilities in improving and removing negative symptoms, which are central to recovery as a personal process of clarifying attitudes, values, affectivity, and social roles. Interventions that create a new existential situation or being-in-the-world are described.
Karl Jaspers' concept of understanding is central to defining psychosis, yet paradoxically psychosis is characterized by un-understandability—the inability to empathize with the patient's mind, implying a pathological brain process. This un-understandability of patients' own intentions makes them judged as irresponsible in forensic cases. The text suggests that self-disorder, which represents psychosis, may be based on disturbed self-understanding.