The phrase "a personal understanding" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to refer to an understanding that two parties have arrived at through their own direct experience, as opposed to a universal understanding, which is shared by most people. For example, "John and Mary had a personal understanding of what love means to them."
He opened the hearing on Mr. Hagel's confirmation by calling him an "old friend" and saying he is a person willing to give "unvarnished advice, a person of integrity and one who has a personal understanding of the consequences of decisions relative to the use of military force".
It turns out that Todd Robinson has a personal understanding of the ways policemen suffer from what they do.
For example, is it based on his interpretation of the Constitution or perhaps a personal understanding of when life commences.
So I think Shane got a lot from them too, and that's what bonded us: an understanding of those films as well as a personal understanding of each other.
The youngest of 12 children, Mr. Jackson pledged to uphold HUD's mission to help families "lift themselves toward prosperity," and he cited his own roots in emphasizing that he had a personal understanding of that struggle.
Now it may turn out that as a legal matter the First Amendment issues involved in this case are so overarching that developing a personal understanding of the actual medium itself is irrelevant.
He took a keen interest, and had a deep personal understanding. he is going to be greatly missed".
Writing blogs for the Huffington Post's Religion section -- in which I often attempt to present a nuanced, personal understanding of God, and a defense of the inherent goodness in the impulse toward religion -- has been a challenging experience.
She has a deep personal understanding of how violence can have a traumatizing effect, according to a press release from the Varkey Foundation.
If anyone from the west can connect with Kim Jong-it, it appears to be Bill Clinton, who has a "good personal understanding" with the North Korean leader, a senior Mongolian official was told by North Korea's vice-foreign minister, Kim Yong-il.
Three key themes emerging from the qualitative analyses were the (1) journey to achieving depression care, (2) search for a very personal understanding of their depression, and (3) creation of a 'therapeutic space' in which to receive depression care.
