Chapter 7: Existential Counseling and Psychotherapy Flashcards
Existential Counseling
Grounded in existential philosophy, which addresses questions related to existence; what is the purpose and meaning of life? Why do we suffer? What is death?
Strands of Existential Counseling
Daseinanalysis
Logotherapy
American existential-humanistic approach
British School of Existential Analysis
Daseinanalysis
Employs a more analytic approach to help clients open up to their world and to explore how their way-of-being in the world contributes to their suffering
Logotherapy
Based on the belief that life is inherently meaningful
American Existential-Humanistic Approach
Focuses on the individual’s need to be true to his or her own subjective experience, having a more inward focus
British School of Existential Analysis
Incluedes practices that explore four dimensions of existence, including physical, social, personal, and spiritual
Existential Counseling
Involves assisting people to come to terms with dilemmas of living; Most of the issues for which people come to counseling have an existential root; by addressing these as well as the symptoms, the presenting problem as well as deeper life issues of meaning and significance are also addressed, resulting in longer-lasting effects of counseling
I-Thou Relationship
A person experiences the other as a fully independent subject (person or agent); each is fully authentic and receptive to the other’s authenticity in this moment
I-It Encounter
The person engages the other as an object, more of a mental representation or class of person than an independent, authentic entity; a person essentially relateds to his or her conceptualization of the other rather than the actual other
Viktor Frankl
Developed logotherapy, therapy through meaning; believed that even in the most dehumanizing, painful, and absurd circumstances, humans can find purpose, meaning and the will to live
Martin Bubuer
Famous for I and Thou; worked on religious existential philosophy
Rollo May
Key figure for bringing existentialism in the US; emphasized that resisting anxiety takes courage that our choices determine and shape the type of person we become
Irvin Yalom
Existential Approach identifies four givens of existence: death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessmess
Purpose of Existential Counseling
To help clients take responsibility for the circumstances in their lives and to make conscious choices that enable them to live more meaningful, authentic lives
Areas Existential Counseling Address
Death and anxiety
Freedom and responsibility
Isolation and relationship
Meaninglessness
I-Thou Authentic Connection
Clients are encouraged to identify and confront the existential anxieties that underlie the problems and concerns they bring to counseling
Phases of Existential Counseling
Phase 1: Identify how the presenting problems relate to the client’s existential assumptions and beliefs
Phase 2: Clients examine and redefine attitudes regarding death, freedom, anxiety, responsibility, choice, meaning, meaninglessness, isolation, and so on.
Phase 3: Clients take specific action to lead a more fulfilling, meaningful, and self-actualized life
I-Thou Relationship with the Client
Cultivating the type of presence that characterizes I-Thou connections; in counseling, the I-Thou encounter generally takes the form of the conselor bearing witness to the client’s humanity and struggle within the human condition; these are the silent moments in which the client feels seen and heard at a profound level; counselor presupposes that clients have the ability to cope with life’s difficult realities without overreliance on the counselor for encouragement and support; trust in the client’s ability to engage life in increasingly authentic ways
Here-And-Now Presence
Using the quality of presence to help clients increase self-awareness, develop insight, take responsibility, and make choices; focusing clients on present moment, here-and-now experiences is the most effective way to help people change how they relate to themselves and others; focus on intrapersonal (preverbal, kinesthetic, and tacit dimensions of experience) and interpersonal (safe and intimate relationships) forms of presence; help clients identify what they are feeling and experiencing in the present moment and to examine their fears, anxieties, and yearnings that may underlie these feelings
Promoting Responsibility and Independence
Relate to clients in such a way that maximizes their sense of responsibility and independence, often by way of having them confront their ultimate existential isolation and separateness from others, including the counselor; allowing clients to experience the fullness and reality of this isolation so that clients can live more authentically and will be more motivated to make better choices
Universal and Existential Concerns in Client’s Lives
Meaning, meaninglessness, and purpose Freedom and responsiblity Existential anxiety and guilt Death anxiety Esitential angst Purpose of neuroses
Christian Existentialists
Believe that eac person has free will and must choose to take a leap of faith in the face of life’s apparent meaninglessness
Will to Meaning
Primary Drive in a person’s life
Meaning
Is this really what I want for my life?
Am I living a life that has meaning for me?
Is this the life I dreamed of?
If not, why not and how do I get where I want to go?
Steps involved on finding life meaning
Counselors need to help clients identify sources of meaning and purpose
Identifying significant and sincere sources of meaning in an extremely difficult task
Counselors need to move slowly and creatively to help them discover what inspires and moves, which may be a new life experience
Determine how best to translate potential sources of life meaning into real-life action
Freedom & Responsibility
Even though humans have certain limit to their freedom, they always have the freedom to choose how they respond to a situation; are they victims of life, are they the creator of realities? When life gets off course, whom do they blame, and to whom do they turn to get back on course? Do they feel like they have control and freedom over how they respond, or do others make them respond badly? Do they feel that they have the freedom without responsibility?
Capacity for Self-Awareness and Consciousness
Counselors assess the extent to which a client is self-aware of thoughts, feelings, choices, desires, and actions and how these affect others; promoting awareness of all aspects of being
Death Anxiety
A person’s fear of death plays a role in their psychopathology; virtually all humans are in denial about death to one extent or another and erect defenses to avoid this reality; how does the client’s presenting symptoms serve to manage his or her existential death anxiety? What are the beliefs and sources of beliefs that fuel the client’s particular fears of death? Is the client able to speak about death, fear of death, or his or her view of death?
Existential Angst
Refers to anxiety that often underlies and fuels other concerns and issues such as stress that comes from engaging freedom, choice, isolation, meaninglessness, death, etc. Intense awareness of how each decision irrevocably shapes one’s life - and yet one cannot avoid choice and the heavy burden of freedom
Purpose of Neuroses
Presenting problems, anxieties, and neuroses serve the purpose of preserving a person’s centerdness, sense of self, and, ultimately, his or her own existence; by viewing symptoms as a strategy for preserving the self against the perceived threat of harm or annihilation, existential counselors can quickly identify where pivotal choices need to be made and responsibility needs to be taken
Goal in Existential Counseling
Focus on encouraging clients to live more authentic lives by changing how they relate to broader existential anxieties and generate life meaning; focuses on long-term changes at an existential level rather than the everyday symptoms with which the client may have presented
Early and Middle Phase Goals in Existential Counseling
Increasing a person’s sense of meaning and purpose
Reducing existential anxiety and/or fear of being alone
Creating greater acceptance of death, loss, or change
Developing a sense of identity that is less dependent on externals, such as a job, financial status, relationship status, etc.
Working or Closing Phase Goals in Existential Counseling
Increase ability to generate a sense of meaning and purpose in his or her life that is less dependent on the opinion of others
Increase ability to manage existential anxieties about being single
Incerase acceptance of the process of aging
Existentialist Strategies in the Search for Meaning and Promoting Choice
Spiritual Perspective - using religieous and spiritual beliefs to view and recontextualize the situation so that there is more hope and meaning
Existential Philosophical Perspective - offering existential philosophical views of death, isolation, responsibility, and freedom to promote greater agency
Relational Perspective - generating purpose and meaning by examining how one’s choice affects significant others
Identity Preservation - deciding to take action that is congruent with one’s view of self
Existential Isolation
Refers to an unbridgable gulf between oneself and any other being; acknowledging this isolation is critical for creating life meaning and taking responsibility for one’s life; finding appropriate moments to point out how ignoring existential isolation is contributing to problems in a client’s life
Defining and Affirming Self: Achieving Freedom
Viewing symptoms as perceived threats to the self, the counselor’s attention is directed to gaining an understanding of the client’s subjective affirmation in those contexts in which the identify ways in which he or she perceives threats to the self, sort out existential from garden-varietyy neurotic anxieties, and encourage him or her to make decisions to take responsibility for preserving his or her sense of self and centerdness in the work context
Courage and Encouragement
Promote the courage required to be fully aware of one’s own humanity; facing the reality of death, loneliness, and responsibility for one’s life; existentialist counselor encourages clients to go to places that scare them the most
Love and Belongingness
Love is to delight in the presence of another, affirming the other’s value and development as mch as one’s own; you can only love in proportion to your capacity for independence; help clients develop loving relationships that reflect a conscious choice to delight in being with the other while minimizing demands and dependency
Paradoxical Intention
The client is invited to imagine and/or intend to have happen that which is feared; must be used in a payful, humorous spirit that promotes self-detachment; enabling the client to realize control over what seemed uncontrollable
Checklist for Existential Case Conceptualization
Meaning, Meaninglessness, and Life Purpose
Freedom and Responsibility
Capacity for Self-Awareness and Consciousness
Death Anxiety
Existential Angst
Purpose of Neuroses
