Chapter 5: Existential Theory & Therapy Flashcards
Soren Kiekegaard
Danish, lived in Copenhagen; wrote primarily on reliegous faith and meaning of christianity
Freidrich Nietzsche
German, had strong negative feelings toward christianity; claimed that religion used fear and resentment to pressure individuals into moral behavior
Fritz Perls
Every psychological phenomenon is experienced as a polatrity; polarized factions within the individual is a primary pathway toward deeper understanding of the true nature of the self
Rollo May
Formally introduced and integrated existential thought into American counseling and psychotherapy
May’s Educational Attainment
BA English in Oberlin College, Ohio; took seminars from Alfred Adler, obtained a Bachelor’s degreee in Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York; Clinical Psychology degree from Columbia
Jean-Paul Sartre
Freedom is existence, and its existence precedes essence. Man’s essence is his existence.
Proposition of Pure Existential Theory
Humans contain no permanent elements.
There are no absolute or essential truths (essences) but that we as individual human beings create our own truth and reality
Existentialism
Emphasis on personal choice, personal consciousness, and personal responsiblity; the past does not and cannot determine the future;
Fritz & Laura Perls
Brought specific therapy techniques into the domain of existential therapy
I-Am Experience
The experience of being, of existing; Ontological experience (the science of being); entirety of an individual’s human experience is accesible to consciousness.
Principles of Gestalt Theory
The whole, self-regulating person Field theory The figure-ground-formation process Peeling the onion The therapy process
The Whole Self-Regulating Person
The goal is to help the individual become aware of and own his or her entire self; Gestalt therapy enhances awareness, which leads to reintegration and allows the whole person to regulate and be responsible for his life
Field Theory
Every individual must be viewed within the context of his or her environment, because everything is relational
Contact
Emphasizes the importance of contact between individuals and their environment. Individuals taste and digest their environment
Introjection
Accepting anything from their environment, swallowing ideas and perspectives of others whole; without testing or tasting
Retroflection
Doing with oneself what he or she would like to do to others
Projection
Spitting parts of themselves out onto the world, refusing to own these parts
Deflection
Keeping their mouths shur so nothing from the environment can get in
Confluence
Maintaining a completely permeable boundary between themselves and the world and having trouble distinguishing between themselves and the outside world
Figure-Ground-Formation Process
Dominant needs of an individual emerge into focus at any given moment
Peeling the onion
Peeling off distinct layers of neurosis; through awareness and integration, clients can wake up and become themselves, rather than pretending to be something they aren’t
Layers of Neurosis
The Phony The Phobic The Impasse The Implosive The Explosive
Gestalt Therapy Process
I and Thou, Here and Now, What & How
Daimonic
Any natural function which has to power to take over the whole person; includes positive and negative potential; form of psychic energy or an urge that is the source of both constructive and destructive impulses
Central Task of Psychotherapy according to May
Harnessing and integration of the daimonic