Chapter 6 Flashcards
_________: focused on uncertainty in life and angst (word with a meaning between the English words dread and anxiety)… it is this angst that
causes people to stop sleepwalking through life as people create themselves.
Soren Kierkegaard
________: developed phenomenological existentialism
Martin Heidegger
_______ states that we exist
“in the world” and should not try to think of ourselves as beings apart from the world into which we are thrown); moods and feelings reflect understanding on whether people are living authentically or inauthentically constructing life around the expectations of others; Living authentically implies: 1. Being true to our own evaluation of what constitutes a meaningful
existence 2. Accepting responsibility for the fact that we create our lives by the choices we make
phenomenological existentialism
_______ called excuses “bad faith.”
Sartre
Freedom is hard to face, so we tend to invent an excuse by saying, “I can’t change now because of my past conditioning.”Satre would say this is an example of _______.
bad faith
emotional problems occur when people fail to acknowledge freedom and choices;
excuses for why people didn’t change are termed ______; to choose is to become committed; example: “Of course I’m this way, look at my parents,”
bad faith
bad faith refers to leading an _________.
inauthentic existence
Philosophically, the ________ would agree that:
1. The final decisions and choices rest with the client 2. People redefine themselves by their choices 3. A person can go beyond early conditioning 4. Making choices can create anxiety
existentialist
Four Prominent Developers in Contemporary Existential Psychotherapy:
Viktor Frankl,
Rollo May,
James Bugental
Irvin Yalom
“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how”
Viktor Frankl
- Developed logotherapy (therapy through meaning) where he sheds
light on what it means to be fully alive 2. Central themes: life has meaning; the central motivation for living is the will to meaning; the freedom to find meaning in all that one thinks; and the integration of body, mind, and spirit 3. Challenges clients to find meaning through suffering, work, and love and other things
Viktor Frankl
Wrote Existential Psychotherapy
Irvin Yalom
Focuses on four ultimate human concerns: death; freedom; existential isolation; and meaninglessness
Irvin Yalom
The basic goals of existential theory are:
to expand self-awareness,
to increase choice potentials,
to help clients accept the responsibility of choosing, and
to help the client experience authentic existence
Our _______ goes hand and hand and requires us to accept responsibility for directing our own life and we are free to choose who we will be
freedom and responsibility
_____ implies that we are responsible for our lives, for our actions, and for our failures to take action.
Freedom
_________ – being aware of having evaded a commitment, or having chosen not to choose (which means – the person does not live authentically; allowing others to define us or to make choices for us)
Existential guilt
People are condemned to ______ and have a commitment to choose for self
freedom
Freedom and Responsibility go hand in hand; so, clients must accept responsibility or there will be no ______.
profit from therapy
Although people are not free from conditions, they are free to ___________.
take a stand against these restrictions
Therapist assist clients in discovering how they are ________ and encourage them to risk using it.
avoiding freedom
Relatedness to other human beings can be therapeutic if balanced with _________.
aloneness.
the courage to be was coined by
Paul Tillich
_________ involved being aware of our finite nature gives people an appreciation of ultimate concerns
The courage to be
The __________ involves the following issues: discarding old values, meaninglessness, creating our own value system, and the struggle for significance in life
search for meaning
Existential therapists can provide the conceptual framework for helping clients challenge the meaning in their lives, and thus ________.
search for meaning
Existential therapy is best considered as an experimental approach to __________.
understanding humans
expanding _________ is a basic goal of therapy.
awareness
The central issue in therapy is ____________.
freedom and responsibility
Part of the therapist’s function and role is that they be a
________ for the client to be used in various ways.
companion
- Have no stable techniques and they are guided by the uniqueness of each client 2. It stresses the I/Thou encounter in the therapy process 3. It focuses on the use of the therapist’s self as the core of therapy4. It allows for incorporation of techniques from many other approaches
existential therapy
_________ is best considered as an invitation to clients to recognize the ways in which they are not living fully authentic lives and to make choices that will lead to their becoming what they are capable of being. An aim of therapy is to assist clients in moving toward authenticity and learning to recognize when they are deceiving themselves. It aims at helping clients face anxiety and engage in action that is based on the authentic purpose of creating a worthy existence.
Existential therapy
Therapists must first have a depth and openness in their own lives before they
venture into the client’s lives, and this venture into the lives of clients may change the therapist’s personal life as well .
TRUE or FALSE
True (existential therapy)
________ has three phases of counseling: 1. Initial phase: counselors assist clients in identifying and clarifying their assumptions about the world and examine values and beliefs a. Therapist encourages client to examine client’s role in creating
their problems in living
2. Middle phase: clients are encouraged to more fully examine the source and authority of their present value system 3. Final phase: helping clients take what they are learning about themselves and put it into action
existential therapy
Aim of therapy: find ways of implementing client’s ________________ in a concrete way.
examined
and internalized values
Existential therapy is especially appropriate for clients struggling with ________, doing grief/loss work, confronting death, or facing a significant decision
developmental crisis
Strength of existential therapy is its focus on available choices and pathways toward _______.
personal growth
Existential therapy is best suited for clients who are committed to dealing with their problems about living, who feel alienated from the current expectations of society, those who are searching for meaning in their lives, those who are experiencing a lack of identity, or those on the _______.
edge of existence
Existentialists are excessively ________ and they ignore the social factors that cause human problems (ie: if someone’s circumstances truly are limited)
individualistic
Some clients may experience a deep sense of frustration and feelings of powerlessness when it comes to making changes outside of themselves, such as the external realities of racism, discrimination, and oppression … if therapists continue to push the idea that the client has the power to change, the client may feel patronized and _____.
misunderstood
Existential therapy is highly focused on the philosophical assumption of __________, which doesn’t account for the complex factors that many
people who have been oppressed must deal with
self-determination
Clients get a lack of direction from the therapist and _____ are responsible for determining where therapy goes
clients
The view that death is a positive force because it gives __________.
meaning to living.
Since few techniques are generated by this theory, therapists must develop their own innovative procedures to ____________.
borrow from other schools of therapy
