INTRODUCTION
Existential therapy
- more a way of thinking, or an attitude about psychotherapy
- Best described as philosophical approach
- Goal: assist clients in their exploration of the existential givens of
life
- Grounded on the assumption that we are free
- Authors and designers of our life
INTRODUCTION
Basic existential premise: we are not victims of circumstance
because to a large extent, we are what we choose to be
First step in the therapeutic journey: for clients to accept
responsibility
Aim of existential therapy: to explore their values and beliefs
and take action
Therapists basic task: to consider what they are most serious
about so they can pursue a direction in life
KEY FIGURES
Viktor Frankl
Rollo May
Irvin Yalom
James Bugental
Emmy van Deurzen
EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPISTS
Soren Kierkegaard
Friedrich Nietzche
Martin Heidegger
Martin Buber
Ludwig Binswanger
Medard Boss
Jean-Paul Sartre
SOREN KIERKEGAARD
SOREN KIERKEGAARD
Angst- meaning lies between dread and anxiety
Role of anxiety and uncertainty in life
Existential therapy- associated with making
basic
decisions about how we want to
live
- Not pathological
Anxiety- school in which we are educated to be a
self
SOREN KIERKEGAARD
the sickness unto death arises
when we are not true to ourselves
BECOMING HUMAN IS A PROJECT,
AND OUR TASK IS NOT SO MUCH
TO DISCOVER WHO WE ARE AS TO
CREATE OURSELVES
FRIEDRICH NIETZCHE
FRIEDRICH NIETZCHE
Iconoclastic
Subjectivity
Located values within the individuals
will to power
Pioneered analyses of anxiety,
depression, subjectivity, and the
authentic self
MARTIN HEIDEGGER
MARTIN HEIDEGGER
Phenomenological existentialism
we exist in the world and should not try
to think of ourselves as beings apart
from the world into which we are thrown
- Does not focus on past events but
motivates individuals to look
forward to authentic
experiences
Moods and feelings as ways of
understanding
MARTIN BUBER
MARTIN BUBER
less individualistic
We live in a kind of betweenness: there is
never just an I, but always an other
Must have many I/it interactions in everyday
life
Therapist and the client could never be on
the same footing
Dialogic condition
MARTIN BUBER
Importance of presence:
1. Enables true I/ Thou relationships
2. Allows for meaning to exist in a
situation
3. Enables an individual to be
responsible in the here and now
LUDWIG BINSWANGER
LUDWIG BINSWANGER
Holistic model of self
Phenomenological approach
Also believed that we are thrown into
the world
Existential analysis (daseinanalysis)
- Emphasizes the subjective and
spiritual dimensions of human
existence
MEDARD BOSS
MEDARD BOSS
Dasein- being-in-the-world
- Ability to reflect on life events and
attribute meaning to these events
They believed the therapist must enter the
clients subjective world without
presuppositions that would get in the way
of this experiential understanding.
Therapeutic practice was concerned with
integrating Freuds methods with
Heideggers concepts
JOHN-PAUL SARTRE
JOHN-PAUL SARTRE
Humans are even more free
Existence of a space-nothingness
between the whole of our past and
the now frees us to choose what we
will. (Freedom- Choice)
Bad faith
JOHN-PAUL SARTRE
To choose is to become committed
(Freedom-commitment)
At every moment, by our actions, we
are choosing who we are being
Our existence is never fixed or
finished
Self deception- attempt to pin down
or deceiving who we are
VIKTOR FRANKL
VIKTOR FRANKL
We could preserve a vestige
of spiritual freedom and
independence of mind
the last of human
freedoms to choose ones
attitude in any given set of
circumstances, to choose
ones own way
VIKTOR FRANKL
Essence of being human lies
in searching for meaning and
purpose
Actions and deeds
Experiencing a value
(love or achievements)
Suffering
VIKTOR FRANKL
Emphasized the concepts of
freedom, responsibility,
meaning, and the search for
values
Founder of Third school of
Viennese Psychanalysis
Logotherapy- therapy
through meaning
VIKTOR FRANKL
Central themes:
Life has meaning
Will to meaning
Freedom to find
meaning
Integrate body, mind and
spirit
ROLLO MAY
ROLLO MAY
Concern is with the nature of human
experience
Believed that psychotherapy should
be aimed at helping people discover
the meaning of their lives and should
be concerned with the problems of
being rather than with problem
solving
It takes courage to be; our choices
determine the kind of person we
ROLLO MAY
Real challenge: For people to be
able to live in a world where they are
alone and where they will eventually
have to face death
IRVIN YALOM
IRVIN YALOM
Reading fiction is a source of
inspiration and wisdom to him
Basic philosophy is existential and
interpersonal
4 givens of existence:
1. Freedom and responsibility
2. Existential isolation
3. Meaninglessness
4. Death
JAMES BUGENTAL
JAMES BUGENTAL
Life-changing psychotherapy-
effort to help clients examine how
they have answered lifes existential
questions and to invite them revise
their answers so they can live more
authentically
Emphasized the distinction between
therapeutic process and content
Existential-humanistic
psychotherapy
JAMES BUGENTAL
Cultivation of both client and therapist
presence
Therapists primary task: helping
clients make new discoveries abt
themselves in the living moment
Resistance to being fully present
both during the therapy hour and in
life
Here-and-now dialogue
EMILY VAN DEURZEN
EMMY VAN DEURZEN
Existential therapy is not designed
to cure people of illness bc people
are not sick medically but sick of life
or clumsy at living
Her psychotherapy taught her that
individuals have incredible resilience
and intelligence in overcoming their
problems once they commit
themselves to a self-searching
process
Proposition 4:
The Search for Meaning
Proposition 4:
The Search for Meaning
Why am I here?
What do I want from
life?
The struggle for a sense of
significance & purpose in life.
Meaning in life is an ongoing
process we struggle with throughout
our life.
Client tries to discard old values, and
the therapist trusts that the client can
create a new value system coherent with
the clients life purpose.
Meaninglessness can lead to emptiness,
hollowness, or a condition called
Existential Vacuum, which is often
experienced when people do not busy
themselves with routine & with work.
Existential neurosis - the experience of
meaninglessness
Creating New Meaning
Logotherapy
designed to help clients
find meaning in life.
They can create meaning
even in suffering.
Existential anxiety - the unavoidable result of
being confronted with the "givens of
existence," such as death, freedom, etc.
This concept says anxiety is something that becomes
greater as we realize our freedoms and consequences
of accepting or rejecting that freedom (Corey,
2012).
Anxiety is seen as a potential source of growth.
PROPOSITION 5:
ANXIETY AS A CONDITION OF LIVING
Normal Anxiety
appropriate response to an event
being faced. A powerful motivational
force toward change & growth.
can be relieved if the objective
situation is altered.
Neurotic Anxiety
anxiety that is out of proportion. It
tends to immobilize the person.
the reaction is disproportionate to
the objective danger because some
intrapsychic conflict is involved
The existential therapist can help clients
recognize that learning how to tolerate
ambiguity and uncertainty can be a necessary
phase in the journey of dependence to
autonomy.
An existentialist does not think of
death as a negative thing, but that
death gives significance to living. An
important human characteristic is the
ability to understand the reality of
death and dying
Awareness of death is the source of zest
for life and creativity. Death & life
are interdependent and though physical
death destroys us, the idea of death
saves us.
