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Existential Therapy

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can best be described a philosophical approach that influences a counselor's therapeutic practice; Focuses on exploring themes such as mortality, meaning, freedom, responsibility, anxiety, and aloneness as these relate to a person's current struggle; Rejects the deterministic view of human nature espoused by traditional psychoanalysis and radical behaviorism; Grounded on the assumption that we are free and therefore responsible for our choices and actions; we are the authors of our lives, and we design the pathways we follow

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Goal of Existential Therapy

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To assist clients in their exploration of the existential "givens of life", how these are sometimes ignored/denied, and how addressing them can ultimately lead to a deeper, more reflective and meaningful existences; Increased awareness is the central goal of existential therapy, which allows clients to discover that alternative possibilities exist where none were recognized before

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Viktor Frankl (1905-1997)

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Developed logotherapy

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Logotherapy

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Therapy through meaning; the central motivation for living is the will to meaning; we have the freedom to find meaning in all that we think; and we must integrate body, mind, and spirit to be fully alive; designed to help clients find meaning in life; the therapist's function is not to tell clients what their particular meaning in life should be, but to point out that they can create meaning even in suffering; this view holds that human suffering can be turned into human achievement by the stand an individual takes when faced with it

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Existential tradition

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Seeks a balance between recognizing the limits and tragic dimensions of human existence on one hand and the possibilities and opportunities of human life on the other hands

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The Basic Dimensions of the Human Condition (Existential)

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

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The Capacity for Self-Awareness (Basic Dimensions of the Human Condition - Existential)

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Freedom, choice, and responsibility constitute the foundation of self-awareness

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Freedom and Responsibility (Basic Dimensions of the Human Condition - Existential)

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People are free to choose among alternatives and therefore play a large role in shaping their own destiny; Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand; we are the authors of our lives in the sense that we create our destiny, our life situation, and our problems

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Inauthenticity

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Lacking awareness of personal responsibility and passively assuming that our existence is largely controlled by external forces (Jean-Paul Sartre) "Since that's the way I'm made, I couldn't help what I did" or "Naturally I'm this way, because I grew up in this dysfunctional family"

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Freedom

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Implies that we are responsible for our lives, for our actions, and for our failures to take action; from Sartre's perspective people are condemned to freedom - he calls for a commitment to choosing for ourselves

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Existential guilt

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Being aware of having evaded a commitment, or having chosen not to choose; this guilt is a condition that grows out of a sense of incompleteness, or a realization that we are not what we might have become; guilt may be a sign that we have failed to rise to the challenge of our anxiety and that we have tried to evade it by not doing what we know is possible for us to do

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Authenticity

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Implies that we are living by being true to our own evaluation of what is a valuable existence for ourselves; it is the courage to be who we are

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"The courage to be"

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Paul Tillich; believes awareness of our finite nature gives us an appreciation of ultimate concerns; Courage entails the will to move forward in spite of anxiety-producing situations, such as facing our death

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Existential vacuum

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Termed by Frankl, meaning a condition of emptiness and hollowness that results from meaninglessness in life; this is often experienced when people do not busy themselves with routine or with work; people are faced with the task of creating their own meaning

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Existential anxiety

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the unavoidable result of being confronted with the "givens of existence" - death, freedom, choice, isolation, and meaninglessness; arises as we recognize the realities of our mortality, our confrontation with pain and suffering, our need to struggle for survival, and our basic fallibility; we experience this anxiety as we become increasingly aware of our freedom and the consequences of accepting or rejecting that freedom

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Normal anxiety

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an appropriate response to an event being faced; this does not have to be repressed, and it can be used as a motivation to change; it is not a therapeutic goal to eliminate normal anxiety; at the root of our normal (or ontic) anxiety is a more existential (or ontological) anxiety, which is based on our awareness of our own temporality and is present even when we do not have to face particularly difficult situations

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Neurotic anxiety

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anxiety about concrete things that is out of our proportion to the situation; typically out of awareness, and tends to immobilize the person; • Being psychologically healthy entails living with as little neurotic anxiety as possible, which accepting and struggling with the unavoidable existential anxiety that is part of living

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Schneider and Krug's four essential aims of existential-humanistic therapy

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1) To help clients become more present to both themselves and others; 2) To assist clients in identifying ways they block themselves from fuller presence; 3) To challenge clients to assume responsibility for designing their present lives; and 4) To encourage clients to choose more expanded ways of being in their daily lives

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Restricted existence

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A state of functioning with a limited degree of awareness of oneself and being vague about the nature of one's problems; they see few options for dealing with life situations, and tend to feel trapped, helpless, and stuck;

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Client's Experience in Existential Therapy

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Client's are encouraged to assume responsibility for how they are currently choosing to be in their world; Client's confront ultimate concerns rather than coping with immediate problems; Client's gradually become aware of what they have been and who they are now, and they are better able to decide what kind of future they want

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Initial phase of existential counseling

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Therapists assist clients in identifying and clarifying their assumptions about the world; Clients define and question the ways in which they perceive and make sense of their existence; They examine their values, beliefs, and assumptions to determine their validity; They may focus on what other people "make them feel" or on how others are largely responsible for their actions or inaction; Counselor teaches them how to reflect on their own existence and to examine their role in creating their problems in living

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Middle phase of existential counseling

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Clients are assisted in more fully examining the sources and authority of their present value system; This process of self-exploration typically leads to new insights and some restructuring of values and attitudes; Individuals get a better idea of what kind of life they consider worthy to live and develop a clearer sense of their internal valuing process

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Final phase of existential counseling

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Focuses on helping people take what they are learning about themselves and put it into action; Transformation is not limited to what takes place during the therapy hour; Clients typically discover their strengths and find ways to put them to the service of living a purposeful existence

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Clients appropriate for Existential Counseling

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People who are coping with developmental crises, experiencing grief and loss, confronting death, or facing a major life decision; Struggle for identity during adolescence, coping with possible disappointments in middle age, adjusting to children leaving home, coping with failures in marriage and work

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Existential group therapy

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Group provides the optimal conditions for therapeutic work on responsibility; members are responsible for behaving in the group, and providing a mirror for how they are likely to act in the world

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True

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True or false: The key concepts of the existential approach can be integrated into most therapeutic approaches.

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True

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True or false: Existential therapists show wide latitude in the techniques they employ.

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True

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True or false: According to Sartre, existential guilt is the consciousness of evading commitment to choose for ourselves.

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False

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True or false: Existentialists maintain that our experience of aloneness is a result of our making inappropriate choices.

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True

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True or false: Techniques are secondary in the therapeutic process, and a subjective understanding of the client is primary.

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False

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True or false: To its credit, existential therapy is compatible with the trend toward evidence-based practice.

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True

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True or false: Part of the human condition is that humans are both free and responsible.

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False

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True or false: Anxiety is best considered as a neurotic manifestation; thus, the principal aim of therapy is to eliminate anxiety.

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True

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True or false: Emmy van Deurzen has made significant contributions to the development of existential therapy in the United Kingdom through her writing and teaching.

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True

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True or false: The existential approach is a reaction against both psychoanalysis and behaviorism.

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E

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Who is the person who developed logotherapy? a. Emmy van Deurzen b. James Bugental c. Rollo May d. Rollo May e. Victor Frankl

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D

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Which is not a key concept of existential therapy? a. It is based on a personal relationship between client and therapist. b. It stresses personal freedom in deciding one's fate. c. It places primary value on self-awareness. d. It is based on a well-defined set of techniques and procedures.

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B

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One function of the existential therapist is to a. assist the client in working through transference. b. understand the client's subjective world. c. challenge the client's irrational beliefs. d. develop a specific treatment plan that can be objectively appraised. e. explore the client's past history in detail.

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A

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According to the existential view, anxiety is a a. part of the human condition. b. neurotic symptom that needs to be cured. c. result of faulty learning. d. result of repressed sexuality.

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B

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Resistance is seen as part of ________ --- how a person understands his or her being and relationship to the world at large. a. authenticity b. the self-and-world construct c. social interest d. the existential vacuum e. the world-at-large concept

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C

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What is the most crucial quality of a therapist in building an effective therapeutic relationship with a client? a. the therapist's ability to diagnose accurately b. the therapist's application of evidence-based practices c. the therapist's authenticity d. the therapist's knowledge of theory e. the therapist's skill in using techniques

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A

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Who is the person who was the main American spokesperson of European existential thinking as it is applied to psychotherapy? a. Rollo May b. Carl Jung c. Rudolf Dreikurs d. Erik Erikson

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D

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Guilt and anxiety are viewed by existential therapists as a. behaviors that are unrealistic. b. conditions that should be removed or cured. c. all of these. d. none of these. e. the result of traumatic situations in childhood.

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D

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The existential approach is based on a. a manualized approach to treatment. b. specific behaviors that can be assessed. c. a teaching-learning model that stresses the didactic aspects of therapy. d. the philosophical concern with what it means to be fully human. e. a scientific orientation.

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B

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Existential therapy is basically a. an evidence-based approach. b. an experiential and relational approach. c. a cognitive approach. d. a behavioral approach. e. a recent development of the psychoanalytic model.

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E

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Existential therapy places emphasis on a. uncovering early childhood traumatic events. b. teaching clients cognitive and behavioral coping skills. c. finding solutions to well-defined problems. d. working through unconscious conflicts. e. the quality of the client-therapist relationship.

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D

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The central theme running through the works of Viktor Frankl is a. overcoming our inferiority complex through striving for superiority. b. that freedom is a myth. c. the importance of understanding one's family of origin. d. the will to meaning. e. being thrown into the universe without purpose.

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B

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The existential therapist would probably agree that a. aloneness is a sign of detachment. b. ultimately we are alone. c. we are alone unless we have a religious faith. d. we are alone if we are not loved by others. e. aloneness is a condition that needs to be cured.

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A

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The existential "givens of life" include all of the following except a. taxes. b. meaninglessness. c. freedom. d. existential isolation. e. death.

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D

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Which of the following is a limitation of the existential approach in working with culturally diverse client populations? a. the focus on death as a catalyst to living fully b. the focus on understanding and accepting the client c. the focus on the I/Thou relationship d. the focus on one's own responsibility rather than on changing social conditions e. the focus on finding meaning in one's life

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Existential Psychotherapy Philosophy

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"Existential psychotherapy is an attitude toward human suffering [that] has no manual. It asks deep questions about the nature of the human being and the nature of anxiety, despair, grief, loneliness, isolation, and anomie. It also deals centrally with the questions of meaning, creativity, and love"

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Anxiety from an Existential Perspective

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Existential therapists differentiate between normal and neurotic anxiety, and they see anxiety as a potential source of growth

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View of Death from an Existential Standpoint

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The existentialist does not view death negatively but holds that awareness of death as a basic human condition gives significance to living; Death should not be considered a threat; death provides the motivation for us to take advantage of appreciating the present moment; Instead of being frozen by the fear of death, death can be viewed as a positive force that enables us to live as fully as possible

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Techniques used in Existential Therapy

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The existential approach is unlike most other therapies in that it is not technique-oriented; Although existentially oriented therapists may incorporate many techniques from other models, these interventions are made within the context of striving to understand the subjective world of the client

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