Lecture 12

Question 1

Existential attitude

Answer 1

(Rollo May)
emphasizes existence rather than essence
- Focuses on human bein as he or she is emerging and becoming
- Knowledge is not an act of thinking but an act of doing
- we are what we do
- existential approach criticized for rendering the individual unlawful and predictable
- objectivity prevents understanding

Question 2

our predicament

Answer 2

the central problem we face is a feeling of powerlessness
- power has become impersonal - an autonomous force acting on its own behalf

Question 3

anxiety

Answer 3

-apprehension cued off by a threat to an essential value (not stress)
- an inevitable characteristic of being human, intensified in contemporary culture by a sense of interpersonal isolation and alienation in which ones self is viewed as an object and self-validation depends on winning over others
-

Question 4

the daimonic

Answer 4

(Rollo May)
any natural function whoch has the power to take over the whole person (e.g., sex, anger, a craving for power)
- Can repress the dianomic but no avoid its consequences
- by becoming aware of the dianomic we can intergrate it into ourselves

Question 5

goals of integration

Answer 5

include confronting one’s potentialities for the daimonic, power, love, intentionality, freedom, and destinay and courage and creativity

Question 6

myth

Answer 6

(rollo)
- narrative pattern that gives significance to our existence, essential for psychological health
- our denial of myth in the west reflectsour overemphasis on left-brain activities, rationalistic speech and our refusal to confront our own reality

• each of us develops our own unique narrative in which we play the primary
• myths are archetypal patterns in human consciousness - being norn, dying, making choices and so forth
• need myths to give out lives meaning and suggest new possibliities, need to belong

Question 7

central task of psychotherapy

Answer 7

seek to understand the patients mode of being and nonbeing in the world

Question 8

the goal of therapy

Answer 8

its not adjustment or lessening suffering
- rather its the full confronting of ones own existence
- thats what ennables us to deal witht hte most important realities of life in the first place
(Rollo)

Question 9

personal construct

Answer 9

(george kelly)
to understand the world we develop personal constructs: hypothesis that make the world meaningful to us

(rest of the notes on phone)

Question 10

constructive alternativism

Answer 10

philsophical position suggested that any one event is open to a number of possible interpretations

• objective truth of a persons interpretations is unimporttant bc they are unknowable what is important is the implicatins for behavior and life
• during out lifetime we develop many constructs whoch we continually test, revise and modify
• alternative constructs that we could choose from are always availble

Question 11

fundamental postulate

Answer 11

a persons processes are psychologically channelized by the ways in which he anticipates events
- the way in which an individual predicts future happenings is crucial to behavior
- the future rather than the past is the primary impetus for behavior
(kelly)

Question 12

george kellys reconstruciton of old concepts

Answer 12

self-construct
-based primarily on what we perceive as consistencies on our own behavior. E.g., we believe that we are honest sincere, friendly etc. developed out of out relationships with other ppl

role
- process or behavior that people engage in based on their understanding of the behavior and constructs of others. Do not have to be accurate in our constructions to enter in to role. Defined by the individual

Question 13

george kelly reconstruction of anxiety, guilt, aggressona and hostility

Answer 13

anxiety
- recognition that one cannot adequately deal with new situations. discrepancy can lead to construct change.

Guilt
- the sense of having losts ones core role structure - occurs when we behave in ways that violate our core role structure. intentionally or unintentionally

aggression
- involves action; the deliberate placement of oneself into situations that call for decisions. (similar to assertiveness)

hostility
- individual forces other people or events to fit into the personal construct system. opposite of aggression

Question 14

Role construction repertory tests (rep test)

Answer 14

(kelly)
asked clients to write a character sketch of themselves as if they were primary charachter in a play

• the person reveals constructs by comparing and contrsating a number of significant persons in his or her life

Question 15

when do psychological disorders arise

Answer 15

when a person clings to and continues to use personal constructs in spite of the fact that subsequent expereince fails to validate them