Chapter 6- Existential

Question 1

logotherapy

Answer 1

Developed by Frankl, this brand of existential therapy literally means “healing through reason.” It focuses on challenging clients to search for meaning in life.

Question 2

givens of existence

Answer 2

Core or universal themes in the therapeutic process: death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness.

Question 3

existentialism

Answer 3

A philosophical movement stressing individual responsibility for creating one’s ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

• The goal of existential therapy is to assist clients in an exploration of their existence – the “givens of life”
• Existentialism strives to help clients define the nature of human existence
• Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Buber, Binswanger, Boss

Question 4

angst

Answer 4

A Danish and German word whose meaning lies between the English words dread and anxiety. This term refers to the uncertainty in life and the role of anxiety in making decisions about how we want to live.

Question 5

anxiety

Answer 5

A condition that results from having to face choices without clear guidelines and without knowing what the outcome will be.

Question 6

presence

Answer 6

Both a condition and goal of therapeutic change, which serves the dual functions of reconnecting people to their pain and attuning them to the opportunities to transform their pain.

Question 7

Existential analysis (Daseinanalysis)

Answer 7

The emphasis of this therapy approach is on the subjective and spiritual dimensions of human existence.

Question 8

existential tradition

Answer 8

Seeks a balance between recognizing the limits and the tragic dimensions of human existence and the possibilities and opportunities of human life.

Question 9

self-awareness

Answer 9

The capacity for consciousness that enables us to make choices.

Question 10

inauthenticity

Answer 10

Lacking awareness of personal responsibility and passively assuming that our existence is largely controlled by external forces.

Question 11

Freedom

Answer 11

An inescapable aspect of the human condition; we are the authors of our lives and therefore are responsible for our destiny and accountable for our actions.

Question 12

Existential guilt

Answer 12

The result of, or the consciousness of, evading the commitment to choosing for ourselves.

Question 13

Authenticity

Answer 13

The process of creating, discovering, or maintaining the core deep within one’s being; the process of becoming the person one is capable of becoming.

Question 14

intersubjectivity

Answer 14

The fact of our interrelatedness with others and the need for us to struggle with this in a creative way.

Question 15

existential neurosis

Answer 15

Feelings of despair and anxiety that result from inauthentic living, a failure to make choices, and avoidance of responsibility.

Question 16

existential vacuum

Answer 16

A condition of emptiness and hollowness that results from meaninglessness in life

Question 17

Existential anxiety

Answer 17

An outcome of being confronted with the four givens of existence: death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness.

Question 18

Normal anxiety

Answer 18

An appropriate response to an event being faced.

Question 19

neurotic anxiety

Answer 19

A response out of proportion to the situation. It is typically out of awareness and tends to immobilize the person.

Question 20

restricted existence

Answer 20

A state of functioning with a limited degree of awareness of oneself and being vague about the nature of one’s problems.

Question 21

phenomenology

Answer 21

phenomenology
A method of exploration that uses subjective human experiencing as its focus. The phenomenological approach is a part of the fabric of existentially oriented therapies, Adlerian therapy, person-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, and reality therapy

Question 22

Reflection

Answer 22

• Reflection is a commonly used counselling technique, but it is often used incorrectly when people simply repeat what the person has said to them.
• Reflection requires understanding a person’s feelings, hearing their messages, and reflecting deeper meanings they are attempting to communicate

Question 23

Immediacy

Answer 23

‘the key skill of focusing attention on the here and now relationship of counsellor and client [person] with helpful timing, to challenge defensiveness and/or heighten awareness’.

• It is an advanced technique used ‘in the moment’ to point out how you are interpreting a client’s [person’s] actions or behaviour.
• It must be used carefully, sensitively, and timely or it can cause harm in the counselling relationship.
• Example: I notice when we talk about your mother, you seem to get quite agitated or uncomfortable with the discussion

Question 24

Basic Beliefs

Answer 24

• We are free (unlike determinism of traditional theories of unconscious and past experiences)
• We are free to choose how we respond to events
• We are responsible for ourselves, and we design the pathways we follow
• We are not victims of circumstances (bad faith)
• Our values are what we choose
• Our existence is never fixed or finished
• Clients are not sick (but may be sick of life)

Question 25

Existential Counselling
* 6 key propositions:

Answer 25

 Capacity for self-awareness
 We are free and must accept this
 We must preserve our uniqueness and come to know us as who we are – not how others see us - but rather, how we interact with others
 Our meaning of life is never fixed
 Anxiety is part of the human condition
 Death is part of the human condition

Question 26

central concerns of a person’s existence:

Answer 26

• Death
• Freedom
• Isolation
  *Meaninglessness

Question 27

• Key theme

Answer 27

– our existence is never ‘fixed’.
* We are the authors of our lives – we can reconstruct our lives.
* Counselors challenge us to accept our aloneness and create meaning in our life.
* Anxiety is a part of life as we recognize our mortality and pain and suffering.
* Anxiety can be used as the motivation to change.

Question 28

Goals of Existential Counselling

Answer 28

• Help clients 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.
  
  • recognize factors that block freedom
  • challenge clients to see how they might be responsible for their problems (their cognitions) rather than - this is happening to me.
  • widen perspectives on choice
  • accept the freedom and responsibility that go along with taking action