Existential & Humanistic Theory Flashcards
victor frankl
Man’s Search for Meaning. emphasized “the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of curcumstances, to choose one’s own way.” emphasized freedom, responsibility, meaning, search for values
Third School of Viennese Psychoanalysis
founded by frankl.
Logotherapy
developed by frankl. “therapy through meaning” central themes: life has meaning, central motivation for living is the will to meaning; we have freedom to find meaning; we must integrate body, mind, spirit to be fully alive.
rollo may
Theology degree from Union. Influenced by Tillich. “The Meaning of Anxiety.” “Love and Will.” helped translate key existential concepts into psychotherapeutic practce in the U.S. in europe
Rollo May believed psychotherapy should be…
aimed at helping people discover the meaning of their lives and should be concerned w/ the problems of being rather than with problem solving
irvin yalom
group psychotherapy. 4 “givens of existence” or ultimate concerns: freedom & responsibility, existential isolation, meaninglessness, death. different therapy must be designed for each client.
existential therapy best described as
a philosophical approach that influences a counselor’s practice. more a way of thinking, or an attitude, than a particular style of practicing
goal of existential therapy
assist clients in exploration of the existential “givens of life”
grounded on the assumption that
we are free and therefore responsible for our choices and actions. we are the authors of our lives, and we design the pathways we follow.
power of the individual
once individuals recognize their role in creating their own life predicament, they also realize that they, and only they, have the power to change the situation
The European existential perspective focused on…
human limitations and tragic dimension of life… largely as a result of devastation from WWII.
kierkegaard
creative anxiety, despair, fear, dread, guilt, nothingness
nietzsche
death, suicide, will
heidegger
authentic being, caring, death, guilt, individual responsibility, iloation
sartre
meaninglessness, responsibility, coice
buber
interpersonal relationships, I/thou perspective in therapy, self transecndence
kiergegaard 2
angst. addressed role of anxiety and uncertainty in life. existential anxiety associated w/ making basic decision about how we want to live, not pathological. anxiety is the “school in which we are educated to be a self.” believed that “sickness unto death” arises when we are not true to ourselves. becoming human is a project, and our task is not so much to discover who we are as to create ourselves
nietzsche 2
humans are not rational, but are creatures of well. located values w/in individual’s “will to power.” if we release ourselves by giving free rein to our will to power, we tap our potentiality for creativity and originality.
heidegger 2
phenomenological existentialism. we exist “in the world,” not as beings apart from the world. moods and feelings are a way of understanding whether we’re living authentically or inauthentically constructing life around others’ expectations. view of human history does not focus on past events, but motivates indivudals to look forward to “authentic experiences” yet to come.
buber 2
less individualistic. we humans live in a kind of betweenness; that is, ther is never just an I, but always an other. The I, the person who is the agent, changes depending on whether the other is an it or a Thou. emphasized importance of pressence, which has 3 functions: enables true i/thou relationships, allows for meaning to exist in a situation, enables an individual to be responsible in the here and now.
binswanger
holistic model of self; addresses relationship btwn person and environment.
existential analysis emphasizes
subjective and spiritual dimensions of human existence
medard boss
applied heidegger’s notions to therapeutic pactice. integrated freud’s methods w/ heidegger’s concepts
“dasein”
“being-in-the-world.” pertains to our ability to reflect on life events and attribute meaning to these events.
sartre 2
humans are more free than earlier existentialists believed. existence of a space-nothingness- btwn whole of our past and the now frees us to choose what we will. our values are what we choose.
sartre on “bad faith”
“ican’t change now b/c of my past conditioning” is an excuse. we are condemned to be free.
James Bugental
life-changing psychotherapy. coined “existential-humanistic” psyychotherapy. cultivation of client and therapist presence. developed interventions to assist client in deepening inner exploration, or searching. therapist’s primary task involved helping clients make new discoveries about themselves in the moment.
Bugental on resistance
resistance not to therapy per se, but to being fully present both during therapy and in life. part of the self-and-world construct – how a person understands his or her being and relationship to world at large
bugental: life-changing psychotherapy
the effort to help clients examine how they have answered life’s existential questions and to invite them to revise their answers so they can live more authentically.