PSY343 - 3. Existential Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy Flashcards
History of Humanistic-Experiential Therapies
US + Europe in 50s + 60s
client-centered, existential, experiential + gestalt therapies
phenomenology: study of consciousness first-person perspective
History of Humanistic-Experiential Therapies
can’t know myself unless reflecting on experience, relationships to others, world, objects
Assumptions of Humanistic-Experiential Therapies
growth tendency
self-reflective agents with capacity to grow + change
seperates us from other species and that allows us to grow
Relationships, including therapeutic relationship, matter
Existential Therapy
European philosophers questions about essential nature + meanings of human existence
Reaction against rise of positivism; emphasized phenomenology
Existential Therapy
Influenced by destruction of WWI + II
central goal of existential theory is struggle to create meaning + live authentically
Theory of Personality
Existence emergent process; deemphasize fixed sets or traits within individual
4 dimensions of experience + existence with which ppl inevitably confront: physical, social, psychological + spiritual
Theory of Personality
inner conflict: confrontation betw indiv + ultimate concerns/givens of existence
Dimensions of Existence
Physical (Umwelt)
Tension: domination over elements + natural law vs. need to accept limitations or natural boundaries
Dimensions of Existence
Psychological (Eigenwelt)
Tension: self-affirmation (resolution) vs. surrender (yielding)
Dimensions of Existence
Social (Mitwelt)
Tension: acceptance (belonging) vs. rejection (isolation)
Spiritual (Überwelt)
Tension: hope vs. despair
Ultimate Concerns
Death: awareness of inevitability of death
Freedom: authors of own lives + therefore must take responsibility for choices + actions
Ultimate Concerns
Isolation: always gap betw ourselves + others
Meaninglessness: live in universe with no coherent or grand design; we create own meaning
Theory of Psychopathology
Freudian Theory of Psychopathology: DRIVE → ANXIETY → DEFENSE MECHANISM
vs. Existential Theory of Psychopathology
AWARENESS OF ULTIMATE CONCERN → ANXIETY → DEFENSE MECHANISM
Theory of Psychopathology
Ontological security: having firm sense of reality + identity
No matter how secure person is in world, some events will shake foundations of security + bring ultimate concerns to foreground
Theory of Psychopathology
genetic predisposition more susceptible to concerns
Problems become more serious when anxiety or disturbance is denied or evaded
Goal of Treatment
help find value, meaning + purpose in their lives
help become more truthful with themselves
help identify barriers or obstacles that impede movement towards authentic + meaningful living
Goal of Treatment
highlights freedom and actualization
help achieve values and goals
limitations of reality - recognizing ultimate concerns and tensions
Therapeutic Relationship
real, genuine therapeutic relationship crucial
fellow traveller navigating concerns of human existence
therapist self disclose
Therapeutic Relationship
less formal, egalitarian as possible
get client to take responsibility - not in harsh tone
reality based - subtle ways we avoid ourselves
Therapy Process
not comprehensive psychotherapeutic system; frame of reference for understanding suffering
assumptions about sources (four dimensions and ultimate concerns)
rest of therapy is unfolding
Therapy Process
No clear stages/prescribed length
not problem focused, looking at experiences + contextualize
Therapy Process
Initial focus establishment of strong relationship
Present-focused exploration
awareness central component - through phenomenology, help client find ways of coping and accepting anxiety
Therapy Techniques
cultivating naive attitude - consistently meeting client with an open mind + spirit of exploration + discovery
leave as much as possible your biases - required a lot of discipline (there are some assumptions already)
Therapy Techniques
Facing limitations – alert for opportunities to help clients
face the limitations
any efforts avoiding concerns - therapist responsibility to highlight it
Therapy Techniques
Exploring personal worldview - trying to understand their take on the world
explore client’s world from inside out - not entirely possible
dealing in approximations
Therapy Techniques
Enquiring into meaning - understanding of what makes
world meaningful to client
Psychotherapy Research on Existential Therapy
Scope + sample size of studies insufficient to firmly
establish effectiveness
Success beneficial impact of approach on couples
groups dealing with chronic illness
Critique of Existential Therapy
highly focused on assumption of self-determination
may not take into account complex factors that many ppl
who have been oppressed must deal with
Critique of Existential Therapy
many cultures it not possible to talk about self + self-determination apart from context of social network + environmental conditions
highly secular - less inclusive
Critique of Existential Therapy
Vontress argues existential treatment suitable from all cultural backgrounds
Issues about meaning of life raised in many nonWestern
contexts
Video Clip of Existential Therapy
not taking responsibility: i guess pointing out lip biting freedom: perfection psychological: fractured sense of self social tension: fear of rejection
Video Clip of Existential Therapy
empathic, but also confrontational
exploring her world - sense of her values
taking responsibility means going into something with no knowledge of outcome
no freedom in her head because everything is so controlled
History of Client-Centred Therapy
1930s by Carl Rogers
new approach emphasized therapeutic relationship
Focused on clients’ innate tendency towards growth
Rogers’ (1957) : Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Personality Change
- 2 ppl in psychological contact
2. client in state of incongruence, being vulnerable or anxious
Rogers’ (1957) : Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Personality Change
- therapist is congruent or integrated in relationship
4. therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client
Rogers’ (1957) : Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Personality Change
- therapist experiences empathic understanding of client’s internal frame of reference + endeavors to communicate this experience to client
Rogers’ (1957) Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Personality Change
- communication to client of therapist’s empathic understanding + unconditional positive regard minimal degree achieved
Rogers’ (1957) Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Personality Change
No other conditions necessary. If these exist + continue over a time, sufficient.
process of constructive personality change will follow.
Assumptions of Client-Centred Therapy
Self-actualizing tendency motivates towards enhancement + growth
self actualizing force points us to what we aspire to
but organismic valuing system will guide us
Assumptions of Client-Centred Therapy
Organismic valuing system allows to differentiate those value that maintain or enhance our lives from those that negate our growth
Theory of Personality
develop sense of self as begin to distinguish themselves from others
developing child need for positive regard from others, to be accepted + loved, + fulfill blueprint for self-actualization
Theory of Personality
parents place conditions of worth on love, child start trying to please parents instead of following organismic valuing process
listening to passenger seat instead of own gps
Theory of Psychopathology
Judgmental parents: love condition upon child’s behaviour
more conditional love, more pathology likely
self concept driven by introjected conditions of worth
source of anxiety and conflict
Theory of Psychopathology
Conditions of worth lead to split betw real + ideal self
“threat”/anxiety when perceives betw real + ideal self
too much anxiety creates defenses
Theory of Psychopathology
Defenses reduce incongruity + anxiety
Distortion alters way experience is perceived
Denial: disavowal of experience
Theory of Psychopathology
defenses too strong: too far away from internal experience + disintegrates
loses sense of self - dissolves when defences too strong
Theory of Psychopathology
Reintegration when conditions of worth lose significance + person becomes more open to their experience
Theory of Psychopathology
too much discrepancy focus on reintegration and/or increase positive self-regard
process often requires helping or faciltating relationship
Goal of Treatment
create warm, safe, nonjudgmental environment
respond with deep understanding of experience
Goal of Treatment
help clients become aware of their incongruence
assist clients find ways to move towards integration + wholeness
Therapy Process
Core conditions for change:
Empathy – trying to understand client’s experience + expressed back to check with their experience
Therapy Process
Congruence (genuineness) – therapist is freely + deeply him/herself; no discrepancy betw experience + expression
in contact with own internal experience so that it’s an authentic encountering
Therapy Process
have to be in touch with themselves so you can treat them as a subject not as an object
genuineness: what they’re doing is congruent with their beliefs
Therapy Process
Unconditional positive regard - valuing client’s experience without judgment; accepting client unconditionally
often working on reflection rather than confrontation
core conditions create facilitative environment client can pursue own trajectory of growth
Critique of Client-Centred Therapy
Emphasis on separate autonomous self that self-actualizes based on Western values of individualism, + White, male ideals
societies where group is more important these goals may be inappropriate
Critique of Client-Centred Therapy
safe, accepting environment - client will do work because of self-actualizing potential
create environment where they can do the work
they just stick close to client’s experience
Critique of Client-Centred Therapy
Non-directiveness – therapist following client – may be challenging in hierarchical cultures, where clients tend to defer to therapist as expert
issue with non-authoritative stance + may feel misunderstood
Critique of Client-Centred Therapy
Feminist critique – focuses only on indiv without educating client to political context of her problems
problems seen to reside within indivi rather than society
Critique of Client-Centred Therapy
privileged client without awareness of context
solutions also in the realm of the client
Psychotherapy Research on Client-Centred Therapy
Nondirective as effective as other treatments
No evidence core conditions necessary or sufficient for therapeutic change - facilitative of therapeutic change
Psychotherapy Research on Client-Centred Therapy
Empathy single strongest therapist determinant of successful psychotherapy
Video Clip of Client-Centred Therapy
mmhm, repeating checking in: is that part of it, is that what you’re saying facilitative transition let’s her dictate silence
Video Clip of Client-Centred Therapy
acceptance vs rejection: how does someone be open and safe at the same time
core concern brought into the relationship
fear of getting too close
congruence: he’s not clear so he goes back for clarification
Gloria Tapes
