Chapter 7 Existential

Question 1

What is the underlying premise of Existential Therapy

Answer 1

People are free and responsible for their choices and actions

Question 2

What is life, my life and what does it “mean” according to Existential therapy?

Answer 2

Meaning represents the Big Picture that underscores the deeper concerns that bring people to counseling.

Question 3

What is “meaning” in Existential Therapy?

Answer 3

One’s sense of purpose and belonging- it is subjectively individual and idiosyncratic

Question 4

What is I-Thou?

Answer 4

You and the other person experience one another in a genuine, intimate, transparent and real way. - you feel it in the moment

Question 5

What is I-It?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Who was the person behind the idea of I-Thou in Existential therapy

Answer 6

Martin Buber

Question 7

Who wrote man’s search for meaning- and lived through the holocausts and found meaning and purpose through suffering?

Answer 7

Victor Frankl

Question 8

What are the Four Givens of existence?

Answer 8

Death, Freedom, Existential Isolation and meaninglessness

Question 9

Who created the four givens of existence in existential therapy

Answer 9

Irvin Yolam

Question 10

What is Rollo May known for in existential therapy

Answer 10

Resisting anxiety takes courage and that our choices determine and shape the type of person we become

Question 11

What is phase 1 in the counseling process of existential therapy?

Answer 11

Identify how the presenting problem relates to the client’s existential assumptions and beliefs

Question 12

What is phase 2 in the counseling process of existential therapy?

Answer 12

The client examines and redefines their attitudes regarding death, freedom, anxiety, responsibility, choice, meaning, meaninglessness, isolation, and so on

Question 13

What is phase 3 in the counseling process of existential therapy?

Answer 13

The client takes specific action to lead a more fulfilling, meaningful, and self-actualized life.

Question 14

What does the counselor need to do to establish a connection in existential therapy?

Answer 14

Establish the I-Thou relationship and creating a Here and Now Presence

Question 15

What does the I-Thou relationship look like in the counseling process for existential therapy

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

What does the Here and Now experience look like in the counseling process for existential therapy?

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

True or False: Promoting responsibility and independence is another goal of Existential theory?

Answer 17

True

Question 18

True or False: There are formal methods in existential therapy?

Answer 18

False: They explore universal and existential concerns of the client

Question 19

What are some examples of existential concerns a client may come in with?

Answer 19

Meaning, meaninglessness, and life purpose

Freedom and responsibility

Existential anxiety and guilt

Death anxiety

Existential angst

Purpose of neurosis

Question 20

What are some main themes in existential theory?

Answer 20

LIfe is inherently absent of meaning: there is no grand design.

Without a sense of meaning and purpose people are adrift.

Question 21

What does Freedom and Responsibility mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

What does Capacity for self-awareness and consciousness mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?

Answer 22

The counselor assess the extent to which the client is self-aware of thoughts, feelings, choices, desires and actions, and how these affect others.

Question 23

What does Death Anxiety mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?

Answer 23

How does the fear of death shape and influence the presenting problem

Question 24

What does Existential Angst mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?

Answer 24

Anxieties that underlie and fuel other concerns and issues: the stress that comes from engaging freedom, choice, isolation, meaninglessness, death etc.

Question 25

What does Purpose of Neurosis mean in Existential therapy in relation to the client?

Answer 25

Symptoms is an unconscious strategy for preserving the self against the perceived threat of harm or annihilation

Question 26

Name some goals of existential theory for the client?

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Name some Advanced/closing goals of existential theory for the client?

Answer 27

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

Question 28

There are no real interventions in Existential Theory but what are the areas of Focus?

Answer 28

Search for meaning and promoting choice

Acknowledging existential isolation

Defining and affirming self: Achieving freedom

Courage and Encouragement

Love and Belonging

Paradoxical Intention (playfully)