Counseling Exam 2: Key Concepts for Existential Therapy – Flashcards

The movement stands for respect for the person, for exploring new aspects of human behavior and for divergent methods of understanding people Captured, in part, by the notion that the significance of our existence is never fixed once and for all We continually recreate ourselves through our projects Humans are in a constant state of transition, emerging, evolving, and becoming in response to the tensions, contradictions, and conflicts in our lives

1. Capacity for self-awareness 2. Freedom and responsibility 3. Creating one's identity and establishing meaningful relationship with others 4. The search for meaning, purpose, values, and goals 5. Anxiety as a condition of living 6. Awareness of death and nonbeing

Who am I? What can I know? What ought I to do? What can I hope for? Where am I going?

The capacity for self-awareness We increase our capacity to live fully as we expand our awareness in the following areas: We are finite We have the potential to take action or not to act We choose our actions As we increase our awareness of the choices available to us We are subject to loneliness We are basically alone, yet we have an opportunity to relate to other beings

Freedom and Responsibility People are free to choose among alternatives and therefore play a large role in shaping their own destiny Embrace 3 values: 1. The freedom to become within the context of natural and self-imposed limitations 2. The capacity to reflect on the meaning of our choices 3. The capacity to act on the choices we make We long for freedom, we often try to escape from our freedom by defining ourselves as a fixed or static entity

Striving for Identity and Relationship to Others Our being becomes rooted in their expectations, and we become strangers to ourselves The courage to be The experience of aloneness The experience of relatedness Struggling with our identity

The Search for Meaning. Human characteristic is the struggle for a sense of significance and purpose in life. The Problem of Discarding Old Value: Client may discard traditional (and imposed) values without creating other, suitable ones to replace them. Meaninglessness. Creating New Meaning.

Anxiety as a Condition of Living Normal Anxiety: An appropriate response to an event being faced Neurotic Anxiety: The made up stuff; An anxiety about concrete things that is out of proportion to the situation ; Typically out of awareness, and it tends to immobilize the person

Awareness of Death and Nonbeing Death should not be considered a threat; death provides the motivation for us to take advantage of appreciating the present moment

May's Stages: Innocence: The pre-egoic, pre-self-conscious Stage of an infant Rebellion: Wants freedom, but doesn't understand the responsiblity that goes with it Ordinary: Normal adult ego learned responsibility, but finds it too demanding. So, they retreat to conformity and traditional values Creative: The authentic adult, live freely and responsibly, and creatively Self-actualizing Transcending

An existential psychoanalyst Has always had a spiritual element in his writing Existential Human Needs Excitation and stimulation Excitement Lack of leads to depression Relatedness and unity The show "Cheers" A place where you can go and everyone knows you Rootedness Foundation you can stand on when life pushes you Sense of identity Who I am Acceptance with the good and bad Transcendence I am spending my life for something that is bigger than I am Religion Or charity work Frame of orientation and object of devotion Religion (object of devotion) Theological world (frame of orientation)

A central figure in developing existential therapy in Europe and bringing it into the U.S. Founded Logotherapy (therapy through meaning) sheds light on what it means to be fully alive Central motivation for living is: The will to meaning Have the freedom to find meaning in all that we thank Must integrate body, mind, and spirit to be fully alive

Approach based on the notion that existentialism deals with the basic "givens of existence": Isolation and relationship with others Death and living fully Meaninglessness and meaning All create anxiety How we address these existential themes has a good deal to do with the design and quality of our lives