CHAPTER 6 EXISTENTIAL THERAPY

Question 1

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.

Answer 1

Angst

Question 2

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

Answer 2

Anxiety

Question 3

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

Answer 3

Freedom

Question 4

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

Answer 4

Existentialism

Question 5

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

Answer 5

Existential vacuum

Question 6

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

Answer 6

Existential tradition

Question 7

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

Answer 7

Existential neurosis

Question 8

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

Answer 8

Existential guilt

Question 9

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

Answer 9

Existential anxiety

Question 10

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.
Existential analysis (dasein analyse) The emphasis
of this therapy approach is on the subjective
and spiritual dimensions of human existence.

Answer 10

Authenticity

Question 11

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.
Existential analysis (dasein analyse) The emphasis
of this therapy approach is on the subjective
and spiritual dimensions of human existence.

Answer 11

Authenticity

Question 12

Core or universal
themes in the therapeutic process: death, freedom,
existential isolation, and meaninglessness.
Inauthenticity Lacking awareness of personal
responsibility and passively assuming that our
existence is largely controlled by external forces.

Answer 12

“Givens of existence”

Question 13

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

Answer 13

Intersubjectivity

Question 14

A state of functioning
with a limited degree of awareness of oneself and
being vague about the nature of one’s problems.
Self-awareness The capacity for consciousness
that enables us to make choices.

Answer 14

Restricted existence

Question 15

From an existential-humanistic
perspective, resistance manifests as a failure to
be fully present both during the therapy hour
and in life.

Answer 15

Resistance

Question 16

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.

Answer 16

Presence

Question 17

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.

Answer 17

Phenomenology

Question 18

An appropriate response to an

event being faced.

Answer 18

Normal anxiety

Question 19

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

Answer 19

Logotherapy

Question 20

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

Answer 20

Neurotic anxiety

Question 21

T F 1. The key concepts of the existential
approach can be integrated into
most therapeutic approaches.

Answer 21

t

Question 22

T F 2. Existential therapists show wide
latitude in the techniques they
employ.

Answer 22

t

Question 23

T F 3. According to Sartre, existential guilt
is the consciousness of evading commitment
to choose for ourselves.

Answer 23

t

Question 24

T F 4. Existentialists maintain that our experience
of aloneness is a result of
our making inappropriate choices.

Answer 24

f

Question 25

T F 5. Techniques are secondary in the
therapeutic process, and a subjective
understanding of the client is
primary.

Answer 25

t

Question 26

T F 6. To its credit, existential therapy is
compatible with the trend toward
evidence-based practice.

Answer 26

f

Question 27

T F 7. Part of the human condition is that

humans are both free and responsible.

Answer 27

t

Question 28

T F 8. Anxiety is best considered as a neurotic
manifestation; thus, the principal
aim of therapy is to eliminate anxiety.

Answer 28

f

Question 29

T F 9. Emmy van Deurzen has made signifi
cant contributions to the development
of existential therapy in the
United Kingdom through her writing
and teaching.

Answer 29

t

Question 30

T F 10. The existential approach is a reaction
against both psychoanalysis
and behaviorism

Answer 30

t

Question 31

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

Answer 31

e

Question 32

12. 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 selfawareness.
    d. It is based on a well-defi ned set
    of techniques and procedures.

Answer 32

d

Question 33

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

Answer 33

c

Question 34

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

Answer 34

b

Question 35

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

Answer 35

e

Question 36

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

Answer 36

d

Question 37

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

Answer 37

a

Question 38

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

Answer 38

e

Question 39

19. The existential approach is based on
    a. specifi c behaviors that can be
    assessed.
    b. a scientifi c orientation.
    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 manualized approach to
    treatment.

Answer 39

d

Question 40

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

Answer 40

c

Question 41

21. Existential therapy places emphasis
on
a. fi nding solutions to well-defi ned
problems.
b. the quality of the client–therapist
relationship.
c. teaching clients cognitive and
behavioral coping skills.
d. uncovering early childhood traumatic
events.
e. working through unconscious
confl icts.

Answer 41

b

Question 42

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

Answer 42

b

Question 43

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

Answer 43

c

Question 44

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

Answer 44

b

Question 45

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

Answer 45

d