Chapter 7 Existential Flashcards
What is the underlying premise of Existential Therapy
People are free and responsible for their choices and actions
What is life, my life and what does it “mean” according to Existential therapy?
Meaning represents the Big Picture that underscores the deeper concerns that bring people to counseling.
What is “meaning” in Existential Therapy?
One’s sense of purpose and belonging- it is subjectively individual and idiosyncratic
What is I-Thou?
You and the other person experience one another in a genuine, intimate, transparent and real way. - you feel it in the moment
What is I-It?
When you and the other relate to conceptualizations of the other rather than the actual other. Example: Diagnosing a client, viewing the client in terms of the diagnosis, planning a date, discussing the repair needs of your car. It is Impersonal, ritualized, superficial and psychologically safe
Who was the person behind the idea of I-Thou in Existential therapy
Martin Buber
Who wrote man’s search for meaning- and lived through the holocausts and found meaning and purpose through suffering?
Victor Frankl
What are the Four Givens of existence?
Death, Freedom, Existential Isolation and meaninglessness
Who created the four givens of existence in existential therapy
Irvin Yolam
What is Rollo May known for in existential therapy
Resisting anxiety takes courage and that our choices determine and shape the type of person we become
What is phase 1 in the counseling process of existential therapy?
Identify how the presenting problem relates to the client’s existential assumptions and beliefs
What is phase 2 in the counseling process of existential therapy?
The client examines and redefines their attitudes regarding death, freedom, anxiety, responsibility, choice, meaning, meaninglessness, isolation, and so on
What is phase 3 in the counseling process of existential therapy?
The client takes specific action to lead a more fulfilling, meaningful, and self-actualized life.
What does the counselor need to do to establish a connection in existential therapy?
Establish the I-Thou relationship and creating a Here and Now Presence
What does the I-Thou relationship look like in the counseling process for existential therapy
The client has the ability to cope with life’s difficult realities without overreliance on the counselor for encouragement and support.
The counselor demonstrates empathy and concern with trust in the client.
What does the Here and Now experience look like in the counseling process for existential therapy?
The here and now experience is the most effective way to facilitate substantive change. Use Intrapersonal (preverbal, kinesthetic, and tactic dimensions of experience). Interpersonal (safe intimate relationships.
Encourage the client to identify what they are feeling i the moment.
True or False: Promoting responsibility and independence is another goal of Existential theory?
True
True or False: There are formal methods in existential therapy?
False: They explore universal and existential concerns of the client
What are some examples of existential concerns a client may come in with?
Meaning, meaninglessness, and life purpose
Freedom and responsibility
Existential anxiety and guilt
Death anxiety
Existential angst
Purpose of neurosis
What are some main themes in existential theory?
LIfe is inherently absent of meaning: there is no grand design.
Without a sense of meaning and purpose people are adrift.
What does Freedom and Responsibility mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?
The client always has freedom to choose how they respond to any and all situations
The counselor, by listening to how the client describes their life circumstances, helps the client come to terms with whether they view themself a victim (not responsible) or do they create and take responsibility for their own reality
What does Capacity for self-awareness and consciousness mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?
The counselor assess the extent to which the client is self-aware of thoughts, feelings, choices, desires and actions, and how these affect others.
What does Death Anxiety mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?
How does the fear of death shape and influence the presenting problem
What does Existential Angst mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?
Anxieties that underlie and fuel other concerns and issues: the stress that comes from engaging freedom, choice, isolation, meaninglessness, death etc.
What does Purpose of Neurosis mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?
Symptoms is an unconscious strategy for preserving the self against the perceived threat of harm or annihilation
Name some goals of existential theory for the client?
1) Increasing a sense of meaning purpose
2) Reducing existential anxiety and/or fear of being alone
3) Creating greater acceptance of death, loss, or change
4) Developing an identity of self that is less dependent on externals
Name some Advanced/closing goals of existential theory for the client?
1) To generate a sense of meaning and purpose independent of the opinions of others
2) Ability to manage existential anxieties about being alone
3) Increase acceptance of the process of ageing
There are no real interventions in Existential Theory but what are the areas of Focus?
Search for meaning and promoting choice
Acknowledging existential isolation
Defining and affirming self: Achieving freedom
Courage and Encouragement
Love and Belonging
Paradoxical Intention (playfully)
