Existential Therapy

Recall how often in human history the saint and the rebel have been the same person. ~ Rollo May  

There was no one founder or group that started the existential therapy movement.  Many psychologists and psychiatrists were involved.  The key figures to this movement was Soren Kierkegaard 91813-1855), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Martin, Heidegger (1889-1976), Martin Buber (1878-1965), Ludwig Binswanger (1881-1966), Medard Boss (1903-1991), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), Rollo May (1909-1994), James Bugental (1915-2008), Irvin Yalom (1931- ).  Other contributors were Kirk Schneider, Orah Drug, David Elkins, and Ken Bradford.

Key Concepts

Existential Therapy does not follow a set of techniques but instead is based on understanding what it means to be human.  The movement focuses on respect for the individual, exploring new aspects of human behavior, and for different methods of understanding the individual.

The basic dimensions of the human condition include:

Ø  The Capacity for Self-Awareness-Freedom, choice, and responsibility make up this proposition.  The more aware that a person is the freer they are.  This proposition means that we are both free to be creative but limited by social and environmental constraints.  Increasing self-awareness is an aim of counseling.  It is stressed that there is a price to pay for self-awareness.  The more aware we become it will be more difficult to return to thought patterns and behaviors.  In self-awareness there may be turmoil but there is also fulfillment.

Ø  Freedom and Responsibility-People are free to choose their path, which will shape their own future.  There are three values that existential therapy embraces: the freedom to become within the context of natural and self-imposed limitations; the capacity to reflect o the meaning of our choices; and the capacity to act on the choices we make.  We didn’t have a choice to be born but we do have a choice on the way we live.  An individual can make excuses by speaking about “bad faith.”  They can blame their future on the fact that they were born a certain way or grew up in a dysfunctional family but the fact remains that they choose their path.

Ø  Striving for Identity and Relationship to Others-People want to relate to others but also to be unique and be centered in self.  Individuals have a desire to be on a path of self-discovery and to authenticate themselves.  Existential writers talk about up rootedness, alienation, and loneliness that can be seen as a failure to connect to others and to nature.  Another problem that individuals have is failure to connect to self.  People often take directions, answers, values, and beliefs from significant people in their lives instead of trusting self.

Ø  The Search for Meaning-The reason that people seek counseling and therapy are centered in these existential questions: “Why am I here?”  “What do I want from life?”  “What gives my life purpose?”  “Where is the source of meaning for me in life?”  Existential therapy helps clients challenge the meaning in their lives.  People will often get rid of traditional values and not create new ones.  This therapeutic process helps clients create a value system that is based on a way of life that is consistent with the client’s way of being.  The therapist’s trust is important in helping clients create a new value system.

Ø  Anxiety as a Condition of Living-Existential anxiety is the unavoidable outcome of being confronted with the “givens of existence” – death, freedom,, choice, isolation, and meaningless.  Anxiety arises as the realities of our mortality is recognized, pain and suffering is confronted, and the need to struggle for survival.  There is a difference between normal and neurotic anxiety.  Anxiety can be a source of growth.  Normal anxiety is appropriate and is a response to a particular event being faced.  Neurotic anxiety is anxiety that is not appropriate for the given situation.  This kind of anxiety tends to immobilize the person.  Anxiety must be faced and viewed as part of the adventure.  A new life might sometimes mean new anxiety.  Self-confidence lessens the expectation for a catastrophe to happen.

Ø  Awareness of Death and Nonbeing-If we view life as being significant than it is necessary to view death as significant.  Death is not a threat but motivation for the individual to take advantage of the present moment.  Death should be the force that makes the individual live life to the fullest extent.  The fear of death bubbles inside of an individual and haunts them throughout their life.  Confronting the fear of death can assist in transforming the individual’s life into an authentic one.  A person that fears death also fears life.  When the reality of death is accepted the individual realizes that actions count, they do have choices, and they must accept responsibility for their actions.

Therapeutic Goals

Ø  To help the client become more present to both themselves and others.

Ø  To assist the client in identifying ways they block themselves from fuller presence.

Ø  To challenge clients to assume responsibility for designing their present lives,

Ø  To encourage clients to choose more expanded ways of being in their daily lives.

Techniques Used

Existential therapy is not technique oriented.  Therapists may use techniques from other models but the main goal is to understand the world of the client.  The therapist prefers description, understanding, and exploration of the client’s reality, as opposed to diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.  Therapists prefer not to be though of as repair psyches but rather as philosophical companions.  Existential therapists should adapt their interventions to their own personality and style.

The following link is movies that reflect many existential themes:

http://www.existential-therapy.com/Arts/Movies.htm

References

Corey, G. (2012). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (9^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Existential Therapy. (2012). Retrieved from: http://www.existential-therapy.com/Existential_Quotes.html

Person-Centered Therapy

The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change. ~ Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) founder and a “quiet revolutionary” who continues to contributed to the development and whose influence continues to shape counseling practice today. 

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) helped to further the understanding of self-actualizing individuals.  Many of Carl Rogers ideas are built on Maslow’s basic philosophy.

Key Concepts

Ø  Rogers believed that people are trustworthy, resourceful, capable of self-understanding and self-direction, able to make constructive changes, and able to live effective and productive lives. 

Ø  When therapists are real with the client and able to support, care, and understand them then that is when significant change will occur. 

Ø  Three therapist characteristics create an environment in which the client can grow.  Those three characteristics are congruence, unconditional positive regard, and accurate empathic understanding.

Ø  The therapist is not the authority while the client sits passively following the beliefs of the therapist.

Ø  This approach focuses on how the client interacts with others, how they can constructively move forward, and how they deal with obstacles.

Therapeutic Goals

Ø  The client’s goal is to achieve more independence and integration.

Ø  The person is the focus.  Not the person’s problems.  The client is assisted in their growth process and how the client can better deal with problems.

Ø  The client chooses the goals.

Techniques Used

The therapist is focused in their ways of being and attitudes.  Techniques to get the client to “do something” are avoided.  Attitude of the therapist is more important than techniques, knowledge, and theories.  The therapist is the instrument of change.  The therapeutic climate is set by the therapist’s attitude and belief in the inner resources of the client.  The therapist has a real relationship with the client.

The following video is what a person-centered therapy session might look like: 

References

Carl Rogers Quotes. (2012). Retrieved from:  
            http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologyquotes/a/rogersquotes.htm

Corey, G. (2012). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (9^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Existential Therapy. (2012). Retrieved from: http://www.existentialtherapy.com/Existential_Quotes.html