Chapter 6 - Existential Therapy Flashcards
Major players in this Therapy?
-
Vicktor Frankl, psychiatrist, (1905-1997) - born and educated in Vienna. Was a prisoner for 3 years in Nazi camps Auschwitz/Dachau, where brother, wife, & children died.
* Received his MD in 1930 and PhD in 1949.
* Best selling book Man’s Search for Meaning (1963)
* Deeply influenced by Freud, but disagreed with the rigidity of his system, and became a student of Adler instead.
* Developed his own theory and practice of psychotherapy, which emphasized the concepts of freedom, responsibility, meaning and search for values.
* fond of quoting Nietzsche, “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how” AND “That which does not kill me, makes me stronger”
* Rollo May (1909-1994) & Irvin Yalom (born 1931) who developed the ‘givens of existences’ – Core or universal themes in the therapeutic process: death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness.
What is logotherapy?
Developed by Frankl, this brand of existential therapy literally means “healing through reason.” It focuses on challenging clients to search for meaning in life, in order to overcome psychological challenges and achieve overall well-being.
Greek ‘logos’ = ‘meaning’
3 TENETS:
- WILL TO MEANING :Our primary motivating force is the search for meaning. We can endure almost anything if we have a sense of purpose. He emphasized that even in the face of suffering, individuals can find meaning in their experiences and use that meaning to move forward to lead fulfilling lives.
- FREEDOM OF WILL: we have the freedom to choose our attitudes and responses to life’s circumstances. Can’t control external occurrences, but we can control our perspective and approach.
- RESPONSIBILITY : take responsibility for our own life and our choices. Encouraged to take an active role in shaping their lives and finding meaning, rather than being passive about things happening to them.
What is Existential Therapy?
- is a way of thinking, more of an attitude – instead of a particular style of practicing psychotherapy.
- not a separate school of therapy or a very defined model of therapy
- it is a bunch of techniques in several therapies (no singular treatment)
- focusing on exploring:
- mortality
- meaning
- freedom
- responsibility
- anxiety
- loneliness
- alienation
- meaninglessness
- assist clients in thier exploration of the existential ‘givens of life’ (if ignored or denied) and if we address them, it leads to a deeper, more reflective and meaningful existence.
- we are authors of our own lives, we are free, we are responsible for our choices and actions, design our own pathway.
- Existential Tradition (Seeks a balance between recognizing the limits and the tragic dimensions of human existence and the possibilities and opportunities of human life)
- the opposite of practicing ‘helplessness’
What is ‘existential analysis’?
(daseinanalysis)
The emphasis of this therapy approach is on the subjective and spiritual dimensions of human existence.
What does it mean to be human.
Therapy Goals?
FOUR MAJOR AIMS OF THIS THERAPY:
1. help clients become more present (with themselves and others)
2. assist clients in identifying ways they block themselves from fuller presence
3. challenge clients to assume responsibility for designing their present lives
4. encourage cleints to choose more expanded ways of being in their daily lives
SUMMED UP? BRING INCREASED AWARENESS TO THE CLIENT, SO THEY KNOW THERE ARE OTHER POSSIBILITIES AND THEY CAN MAKE CHANGES IN THEIR WAY OF BEING IN THE WORLD.
To clarify:
* assist clients in moving toward authenticity
* when they are deceiving themselves
* no escape from freedom as we will always be held responsible. If we do, it is the ultimate authenticity.
* deal with anxiety
* be proactive in choosing authentic purposes
* reclaim and reown their lives
Which type of client?
- CAN BE FOR THE SHORT-TERM CLIENT
- variety of settings & diverse population
- substance abuse
- ethnic/visible minorities
- LGBQT community
- psychiatric in-patients
- ppl coping with developmental crisis, grief & loss, confronting death, facing a major life decision – critical turning points in life such as adolescence, disappointments in middle age, marriage/work/kids moving out of home, suicidal.
Relationship between Therapist + Client :
- Prominence to relationship
- Quality of person-to-person interaction is key to positive change
- attential is paid to the client’s immediate, ongoing experience
- microcosm exists b/c client’s current interpersonal & existential problems will be front and center
(microcosm is simply a self-contained, small-scale version of a larger system)
PROS & CONS of this therapy:
PROS: can serve a diverse community, help people when at a crossroads in life, dealing with big decisions.
CONS :
1. not for those that hold a systemic perspective (diagnosis, treatment, prognosis) because it can be excessively individualistic,
2. ignores social factors (Adlerian)
3. highly focused on the philosophical assumption of self-determination, which doesn’t take into account the complex factors of oppression
4. Doesn’t address the inherent discrimination, racism, oppression of women, people of colour, LGBQT groups etc. It will be hopeless to change oneself unless the social factors also change.
5. clients may expect a more structured and problem-oriented session
Other major figures of Existentialism..
- Soren Kierkegaard : particularly concerned with angst (dread/anxiety). What is the role of anxiety and uncertainty in life? Existential anxiety is associated with making basic decisions about how we want to live (it’s not pathological). Becoming human is a project and we need to create ourselves, not find ourselves.
- Medard Boss : (psychoanalyst), discussed ‘dasein’ – being-in-the-world – which is ability to reflect on life events and attribute meaning to these events. The therapist can’t have presuppositions, in order to understand the client’s subjective view of the world. Deeply influenced by Freud’s psychoanalysis and wanted to fuse it with Heidegger’s philosophies.
- Ludwig Binswanger : (psychoanalyst), a holistic model that addresses the relationship between the person and his environment. Used a phenomenological approach to approach the self: choice, freedom, caring. Based on Heidegger’s ‘thrown into the world’, but still responsible for our choices and planning for the future.
- Friedrich Nietzsche : German philosopher, counterpart to Kierkegaard, emphasized importance of subjectivity, wanted to prove that humans weren’t ‘rational’ – our will propels us, not our impersonal intellect. If we act like a ‘herd’, we will be buy mediocrities, but if we release ourselves to our will to power, we tap into our creativity & originality. Intense analyses of anxiety depression, subjectivity, and the authentic self - both Kierkegaard are generally considered to be the originators of the existential perspective.
- Jean-Paul Sartre : philosopher and novelist, believed humans had even more freedom than earlier existentialists believed. We choose what we will. Our values, we choose. Emotional problems come about by not acknowledging our freedom and choices (being ‘inauthentic’). Despite our pasts, we have freedom to choose and shouldn’t have excuses. Every moment, by our actions, we are choosing who to be. Existence is never fixed or finished. Every new action is a new fresh choice - if we try to definitely say who we are, we are engaging in self-deception.
- Martin Heidegger : phenomenological existentialism (study of the subjective experiences, perceptions, and meanings). We are in this world, not simply viewing it. Shouldn’t waste our days with superficial conversation and routines – shows that we think we will live forever and waste away our days. Our moods/feelings are a way of understanding if we are living authentically or inauthentically around the expectations of others. We need explicit awareness over this in order to have a more positive resolve about how we want to be. Do not focus on the past events, but look forward to ‘authentic experiences’ in the future.
- Martin Buber : has a less individualistic stand, we live in a kind of ‘betweenness’ - there is an ‘I’ and ‘ an other’. Emphasizes importance of genuine human relationships and meaningful interactions. The ‘I/Thou’ relationship involves a deep, authentic connection between individuals, with recognition and respect. The ‘I/It’ relationship refers to superficial and objectifying interactions, where we treat each as objects or a means to an end. This ‘I/Thou’ aligns with core principles of client-centred therapy (developed by Carl Rogers). Client-centred emphasizes the therapist’s unconditional positive regard, empathy, and authenticity in establishing a therapeutic relationship. — so this can be seen as a foundation for understanding healthy and fulfilling relationships in psychological contexts – highlights importance of empathy, active listening, meaningful engagement in positive connections with others.
Key players in Contemporary Existential psychotherapy?
- James Bugental(1915-2008) - he wrote about life-changing psychotherapy, which is the method of asking patients to examine how they have answered life’s existential questions and invites them to live more authentically. He called it ‘existential-humanistic’ psychotherapy. The therapist’s primary task involved helping clients make new discoveries about themselves in the moment, as opposed to merely talking about themselves.
His central approach was his view of ‘resistance’ – (From an existential-humanistic perspective, resistance manifests as a failure to be fully present both during the therapy hour and in life). It’s part of the ‘self-and-world construct’. Forms of resistance include intellectualizing, being argumentative, seeking to please always, etc. (any other life-limiting pattern). In this therapy, the therapist will ‘tag’ the client of when it is occurring so the client will increase awareness.
Books: The Art of the Psychotherapist (1987)
What is meant by Buber stressing ‘presence’?
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.
Has 3 functions:
1. enables true ‘I/Thou’ relationships
2. allows for meaning to exist in a situation
3. enables individual to be responsile in the present time
Buber argued with Carl Rogers that the therapist and the client could never be on the same footing because the latter comes to the former for help. When the relationship is fully mutual, we have become ‘dialogic’ (a fully human condition)
VOCAB LIST #1:
BASIC DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN CONDITION:
What is meant by self-awareness?
Inauthenticity?
Authenticity?
Existential Guilt?
Existential Neurosis?
Existential anxiety?
Neurotic anxiety?
BASIC DIMENSIONS of the human condition, as outlined by the existential approach:
- Self-Awareness : the capacity for consciousness that enables us to make choices, with responsibility.
- Freedom and responsibility: if we do not accept this and instead think we are unchangeable or static, then we are being ‘inauthentic’ (Jean-Paul Sartre) –“Naturally, I’m this way because of my childhood”. We have freedom, too (we are responsible for our lives, our actions, and our failures to take action). Existential Guilt is being aware of having evaded a commitment or failing to making a choice. We feel incomplete and have failed to rise to a challenge – this can be a high motivation for us! We need to be Authentic (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). Clients who refues to accept responsibility by persistently blaming others for their problems are not likely to profit from therapy.
- Creating one’s identity and establishing meaningful relationships with others: People strive to connect with others, but want to keep their uniqueness. Creating an identity takes courage; instead of looking to others in power for answers, we can search within ourselves for answers to our conflicts - don’t become what others expect of us.
- The search for meaning, purpose, values, & goals : discover meaning that will give us a life direction. Lack of meaning leads to stress and anxiety – existential neurosis (Feelings of despair and anxiety that result from inauthentic living, a failure to make choices, and avoidance of responsibility) may lead to a vacuum.
- Anxiety as a condition of living : one’s personal strivings to survive and to maintain and assert one’s being. ‘Existential anxiety’ results from the unavoidable result of the ‘givens of existence’ – death, freedom, choice, isolation, meaninglessness, our fallibility. We may also experience ‘neurotic anxiety’ if we don’t experience regular anxiety.
- Awareness of death and non-being : does not view death negatively, but awareness gives significance to our living. We should have an ability to grasp the reality of the future and the inevitability of death. Shouldn’t fear death, as we will fear life. If emotionally accept reality of our deaths, we realize our actions do count, we have choices, and ultimately have responsibility for how we are living.
VOCAB LIST #2;
- Restricted Existence ?
- Phenomenology?
- The way clients generally arrive at a Therapist’s office : 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 in dealing with life’s problems and tend to feel trapped, helpless, and stuck.
- 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.
JUNE 18 QUIZ:
START OF MINDTAP QUIZ:
According to Sartre, existential guilt is being aware of having evaded a commitment, or having chosen not to choose for ourselves.
TRUE
Existentialists maintain that our experience of aloneness is a result of our making inappropriate choices.
FALSE
