Existential Therapy

Question 1

Give a brief overview of existential therapy.

Answer 1

Based on the model of human nature and experience
developed by the existential tradition of European philosophy. It focuses on concepts that are universally applicable to human existence including death, freedom, responsibility, and the meaning of life

Focuses on the anxiety that occurs when a client confronts the conflict inherent in life

Question 1

Who are the Theororists associated with Existential Therapy?

Answer 1

James Bugental

Viktor Frankl

Rollo May

Irvin Yalom

Question 2

What are the key concepts of Existential Therapy?

Answer 2

A way of thinking or attitude about psychotherapy

Focuses on exploring themes such as morality, meaning, freedom, responsibilty, anxiety, and aloneness as related to a person’s current struggle

Grounded on the assumption that we are free and therefore responsible for our choices and actions

First step of the therapeutic journey is to accept responsibility

The existential tradition seeks a balance between recognizing the limits and tragic dimensions of human existence of one hand, and the possibilities and opportunities of human life on the other hand.

Question 3

What is Existential Therapy’s view of human nature?

Answer 3

find

Question 4

What is the focus of existential therapy?

Answer 4

The current focus of the existential approach is on the individuals experience of being in the world alone and facing the anxiety of such isolation.
- No relationship can eliminate existential isolation, but aloneness can be shared in such a way that love compensates for its pain.

Basic premise = we are not victims of circumstances because largely we are what we choose to be

Question 5

What are the goals of Existential Therapy?

Answer 5

1. Embrace the fundamental nature of human existence.
   - It is about claiming personal freedom and being open to
   the world inall its complexity.
2. Recognize the ways in which we are not living fully authentic lives and move toward this authenticity
3. To make choices that are conducive to one is capable of
4. Help clients to reclaim and re-own their lives
5. Become more present with yourself and others
6. Assume responsiblity for having designed your present life
7. INCREASE AWARENESS

Question 6

What is the role of the therapist in Existential Therapy?

Answer 6

1. Understand the subjective world of clients, inviting them to accept personal repsonsibility for their actions
2. Assist clients in seeing the ways in which they constrict their awareness and the cost of such constrictions.
3. Encourage experiminetation outside of the therapy hour
4. Be emotionally present andavailable to the client, to experience the client as a real person

Question 7

What is the client experience in Existential Therapy?

Answer 7

Clients are clearly encouraged to assume responsibility for how they are currently choosing to be in their world.

Clients are encouraged to act based on the insights they develop through the therapeutic process.

Clients often learn and experiment with new ways of behaving in the outside world.

Clients are to play an active role in sessions, deciding what feelings and emotions they wish to explore

Clients gradually become aware of what they have been and who they are now, helping them to better decide what kind of future they want.

Question 8

What is the client therapist relationship in existential therapy?

Answer 8

The core of the relationship is respect,
faith in the client’s potential, and the
sharing of reactions with genuine
concern and empathy

Therapist and client are co-participants in the therapeutic process
- described as a voyage toward
self-discovery for both
the client and counsellor

Focuses on the I/Thou relationship

The core of the therapeutic relationship is respect, which implies faith in a client’s potential to cope authentically with their troubles and in their ability to discover alternative ways of being.

Presence plays a crucial role in the therapeutic relationship.

Question 9

What are the methods, techniques, and procedures associated with Existential Therapy?

Answer 9

NOT TECHNIQUE ORIENTED

Therapists have a set of assumptions and attitudes that they use to guide their interventions with clients

The interventions that existential practitioners utilize are based on philosophical views about the nature of human existence.
- They prefer description, understanding, and exploration of the client’s subjective reality, as opposed to diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.

It is the encounter and relationship that occurs between client and therapist as they work together that is thought to heal

Existential counselling follows a 3 stage procedure
1. Initial phase
– Therapists assist clients in identifying and clarifying their assumptions about the world.

2. Middle phase
   – Clients are assisted in more fully examining the source and authority of their present value system.

– This process of self-exploration typically leads to new insights and some restructuring of values and attitudes.

3. Final phase
   – Focuses on helping the client take what they are learning about themselves and put it into action to live a more purposeful life

Question 10

Strengths from a diversity perspective of Existential Therapy?

Answer 10

FIND

Question 11

Weaknesses from a diversity perspective of Existential Therapy?

Answer 11

FIND

Question 12

Give a description of Existential Therapy?

Answer 12

Unlike most theories, Existentialism is not the invention of one man and it is not a technique but rather a theoretical basis for resolving problems. Existential psychotherapy focuses on the human condition and asks deep questions about the nature of anxiety, isolation, loneliness, despair and grief. Existential psychotherapy originally developed in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s and is strongly anchored in phenomenological philosophy. The focus of this lesson will be, of course, on the existential approach to counselling and psychotherapy; but, for those of you who are interested in the philosophical foundations of existentialism, the book by Cooper (1999) is an excellent introduction.

The philosophical roots of existentialism are to be found in the works of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Sartre, Husserl and the phenomenologists. Historically, existential therapy began when Binswanger attempted to use Heidegger’s theory therapeutically, an approach that was adapted by Victor Frankl, Rollo May and others in the United States. More recently its leading exponents have included Ernesto Spinelli and Emmy van Deurzen in the UK and Irvin Yalom and James Bugental in the United States. In the UK there are a growing number of existentially-oriented therapists. The School of Psychotherapy based in Regent’s College in Regent’s Park, London and the New School of Psychotherapy near Waterloo, London both specialize in the training of existential therapists and counsellors. The Society for Existential Analysis (http://existentialanalysis.org.uk/Links to an external site.) is a thriving international organisation, which promotes the discussion of existential ideas and their application to psychotherapy.

Question 13

Upon completion of this lesson you should be able to:

describe the key concepts of the existential approach;
describe the aspects of existential therapy as they pertain to the general descriptors listed in Lesson 1;
outline the therapeutic process in terms of the role of the therapist, the client and the relationship between the two;
critically examine your own values and attitudes in relation to the concepts of meaning of life, death and dying, anxiety and guilt, and freedom and responsibility.

Question 14

The text reading for this lesson is Chapter 6 of Corey (2024). Read the chapter before you begin to do the work in the lesson to get an overview of the theory. Supplement the material in your textbook by reading the articles by Das (1998) and Schulenberg et al. (2008). Re-read the chapter as you begin to work on the concepts.

Question 15

What are the basic concepts of Existential Therapy?

Answer 15

After you have read Chapter 6, begin to work on the meanings of the concepts. As Corey (2024) addresses each of the concepts, write down your own definitions. Check your own understanding of these terms against the definitions provided in your readings or in the on-line Glossary.

Existential anxiety
Existential guilt
Existential vacuum (absence of values)
Meaning in life
Being-in-the-world: Eigenwelt, Mitwelt, Umwelt
Authenticity
Freedom and responsibility
Alienation
Self determination

Question 16

What are the basic assumptions of Adlerian Therapy?

Answer 16

Existentialists believe that we have a capacity for self-awareness. Because we are free beings, we must accept the responsibility that accompanies our freedom. We are also constantly striving for identity and relationships to others. In our search for meaning, anxiety becomes a part of the human condition. Death gives significance to living so that, once we have normalized and integrated our fear of dying, we can begin to live fully.

Question 17

What heredity in Existential counselling?

Answer 17

Heredity. Heredity is not seen as a key focus in this theory. However, according to existentialist theory, the drive for self-actualization is indeed innate in all humans. We inherit the need to actualize fully our being-in-the-world.

Question 18

What is Environment in existential counselling?

Answer 18

Environment. Existentialists believe in the importance of the Umwelt, the world around or the environment, in personality development.

Question 19

What are the cognitions for Existential Therapy?

Answer 19

Cognitions. Our perceptions relate to our awareness of others, self-awareness, awareness of death, and non-being. We choose our actions and create our own destinies and we choose to become what we can capably be. Existentialists would contend that reason is only one source of understanding life. It is not capable of providing all the answers.

Question 20

What is the motivation for existential therapy?

Answer 20

Motivation: Existentialists follow the self-actualization model. People make choices in their journey towards self-fulfillment.

Question 21

What is the time orientation for Existential Therapy?

Answer 21

The existential approach to counselling places a strong emphasis on the present (here and now) and helps clients make sense and derive meaning out of current or past sources of suffering.

Question 22

What is the existential view of human nature?

Answer 22

Existentialists have an optimistic view of human nature. We are free to choose. Given the right opportunities, we can find values and meaning in our existence. We have the capacity for expanding our self-awareness and the capacity to comprehend our own death. We are born with the potentiality to be fully human and find meaning in our own existence.

Question 23

Does Existential Therapy use holistic or atomistic explanations?

Answer 23

Holistic/Atomistic: The theory adopts a holistic approach by conceptualizing the individual as a whole person and exploring all three levels of the experience of being-in-the-world: Eigenwelt (the inner world of self), Mitwelt (the interpersonal world), and Umwelt (the biological and physical aspects of experience).

Question 24

Does Existential Therapy use internal or external determinant explanations?

Answer 24

External/Internal Determinants: Existential psychotherapy focuses on internal determinants and placed heavy emphasis on the individual’s search for meaning in life.

Question 25

Does Existential Therapy use nomothetic or idiographic explanations?

Answer 25

Nomothetic/Idiographic: Existentialism emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual in his or her ability to choose what his or her existence will mean. Each individual is engaged in a subjective experience of being-in-the-world.

Question 26

Does Existential Therapy use longitudinal or cross sectional explanations?

Answer 26

Longitudinal/Cross Sectional: The theory is interested in looking at an individual at a point in time. We know the individual on the basis of the choices he or she makes at the moment rather than his or her past history.

Question 27

Does Existential Therapy use Tension Production/Tension reduction explanations?

Answer 27

Tension Production/Tension Reduction: This is a tension production model. We go to great lengths to find meaning in our lives. In therapy clients often face and explore feelings of isolation, dread, loneliness, or guilt.

Question 28

Does Existential Therapy use Observer Frame of Reference explanations?

Answer 28

Observer Frame of Reference: In existential counselling, the observer’s frame of reference is an internal one: the therapist tries to look at the client’s experience through the eyes of the client. The I/thou relationship is emphasized.

Question 29

What is the basis for inference for Existential Therapy?

Answer 29

Prediction of behaviour is not emphasized in existential psychotherapy. The theory concerns itself with the uniqueness of the individual.

Question 30

What is the bases for psychopathology in Existential Psychology?

Answer 30

Pathology may be the result of the following:

failure to actualize one’s potential (existential guilt);

failure to confront fear of the unknown;

lack of authenticity and the perception of differences between what one is and what one ought to be;

meaninglessness;

experience of nothingness and concern with death and dread;

lack of engagement in or denial of any of the levels of being-in-the-world: Eigenwelt (the inner world of self), Mitwelt (the interpersonal world), and Umwelt (the biological and physical aspects of experience).

Question 31

What is the bases for a healthy personality in Existential Therapy?

Answer 31

Existentialists consider that a healthy individual is constantly engaged in a creative search for meaning in life. This approach emphasizes authentic living, responsibility, and the courage to choose. Healthy individuals accept the inevitability of death and are able to remain open towards nature, towards others, and towards themselves.

Question 32

What is the role of the therapist in Existential Therapy?

Answer 32

The existential counsellor is one who listens, empathises, and, through mutually experiencing the moment with the client, helps the client to a greater understanding of his or her life. The I/thou relationship encounter is stressed. The therapist models authenticity and a strong sense of responsibility. Existential therapy encourages clients to reflect on their own existence. Attention is given to the client’s genuine investment in the counselling process.

Question 33

What are the goals of helping for Existential Therapy?

Answer 33

The goal for existential counselling is to help clients find purpose or meaning in life and realize their full potential for responsibility, freedom, creativity, and self-awareness.

Question 34

What are the techniques or methods used for Existential Therapy?

Answer 34

The existential approach to theory is notorious for its dislike of “techniques”. Instead, it relies on providing understanding and caring in the context of a genuine therapeutic relationship to the client. However, Viktor Frankl was known to use paradoxical intention, as well as humour, in order to help clients challenge their inauthentic ways of relating to life’s experiences. Existential therapists do not prescribe homework; such a technique would be viewed as curtailing the client’s sense of responsibility and free choice. Self-awareness is stressed over action.

Question 35

Reflect on your own experience of being-in-the-world and describe your own personality in terms of Umwelt (the biological and physical aspects of your life experience, including your relation to nature and your physical environment), Mitwelt (your interpersonal world and social environment), and Eigenwelt (your inner world of thoughts and feelings).
In what way can your experience of being-in-the-world inform and bias your role as a counsellor?
Visit the website of the Society for Existential Analysis – London (see link below) and browse through the range of informative articles and comments posted on that site.
Listen to a most informative podcast on Victor Frankl’s Man Search for Meaning (Enright, 2016). The podcast consists of very moving interviews with people who found Frankl’s book to be extremely influential in their lives. Frankl’s book is truly the best introduction to and the ultimate summation of existential thought. I hope you will enjoy those interviews as much as I did. Please, see the reference on the next page or use this link: http://mp3.cbc.ca/radio/CBC_Radio_VMS/201/450/sundayedition_20160408_19312_uploaded.mp3Links to an external site.
Self Reflections
How are the concepts of freedom and responsibility related in existential psychotherapy?
What is meant by logotherapy?
Based on your reading of the article by Das (1998), describe the four-step procedure for logotherapy proposed by Viktor Frankl.
Point out one of the limitations of existential therapy from a feminist perspective.
Explain the sentence: “Techniques of therapy are secondary to the primary purpose of understanding the client”.