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Chapter 4

Chapter 4. Existential Therapy. Existential Therapy. Both a philosophy and a philosophical approach to counseling. Not a particularly well-defined way of counseling. Based on the philosophy of 19 th century theologian and philosopher Kierkegaard.

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Chapter 4

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  1. Chapter 4 Existential Therapy

  2. Existential Therapy • Both a philosophy and a philosophical approach to counseling. • Not a particularly well-defined way of counseling. • Based on the philosophy of 19th century theologian and philosopher Kierkegaard. • Focused on the pursuit of becoming an individual. • Emphasis on the need for commitment.

  3. Common Beliefs and Differences • Existentialists share some common beliefs: • Importance of anxiety, values, freedom, and responsibility in human life. • Emphasis on people finding meaning in what they do. • As a group, existentialists differ widely in their emphases.

  4. Major Existential Theorists Rollo May • Co-founder of the Association for Humanistic Psychology in the 1960’s. Viktor Frankl • Began using the term logotherapy. • Believed that meaning is a by-product of human discovery.

  5. View of Human Nature/Personality • Believe that people form their lives by the choices they make. • Contend that people are responsible for any choice they make, healthy or not.

  6. Peak Experiences Maslow describes Peak Experiences as: • Having a holistic perspective of the world. • A natural tendency toward cooperative action (synergy). • Being intrapsychic, interpersonal, intercultural, and international. • Being more consciously and deliberately metamotivated.

  7. Existential Vacuum • A sense that life has lost all meaning. • Individuals who are self-indulgent may feel a sense of normlessness and valuelessness. • Carried to an extreme, these individuals would develop noogenic neurosis – characterized by the feeling that one has nothing to live for.

  8. The Meaning of Life • Frankl believes we can discover life’s meaning in three ways: • Ultimate Meanings – there is an order to the universe. • Meaning of the moment. • Common, day-to-day meaning.

  9. Anxiety • May argues that normal anxiety may be healthy and motivational and can help people change. • Often associated with paralysis. • Existentialists focus on the meaning of anxiety in human life.

  10. Roles of the Counselor/Therapist • There is virtually no agreement among existentialists about how to systematically formulate their ideas into a uniform way of helping others. • Part of the reason is that existentialists believe that every client is distinctive. • As a result, counselors are sensitive to voice, posture, facial expression, dress and apparently accidental moves of the body. • Not unusual for counselors to share personal experiences to deepen the relationship.

  11. Roles of the Counselor/Therapist • Concentrate on helping the client experience subjective feelings, gain clearer self-understanding and move toward the establishment of a new way of being in the world. • Focus on living productively in the present, not recovering a personal past. • Focus on ultimate human concerns. • Do not use psychological tests or make diagnoses.

  12. Goals • Realize the importance of meaning, responsibility, awareness, freedom and potential. • Take more responsibility for their life. • Shift from an outward to an inward frame of reference. • Become sensitive to experiences. • Call attention to unique traits and characteristics. • Improve encounters with others. • Establish a will to meaning. • Make a decision about both present and future directions in life.

  13. Process and Techniques • Specific techniques are rarely used repeatedly. • Fewer techniques than most models of counseling. • Existential counselors view models as a means of “manipulating” clients. • Existential counselors also make use of confrontation.

  14. Multicultural and Gender Sensitive Issues • Existentialists focus on human conditions that are universal to people from all walks of life. • Gender issues are de-emphasized in the approach. • Both women and men have feelings of meaninglessness, isolation, and anxiety.

  15. Strengths and Contributions • Emphasis on the uniqueness of each individual. • Recognizes that anxiety is not a negative condition, but rather a part of the human condition and can act as a motivator. • Access to a tremendous amount of philosophy and literature. • Stresses continued human growth and development. • Effective in multicultural and gender counseling situations. • Helps connect individuals to universal problems faced by humankind. • May be combined with other perspectives and methods.

  16. Limitations and Criticisms • Has not produced a fully developed model of counseling. • Lacks educational and training programs. • Difficult to implement beyond an individual because of its subjectivity. • Clinicians do not diagnose or test their clients. • Closer to existential philosophy than to other theories and therapies associated with counseling.

  17. The Case of Linda: Existential Therapy • How would you conceptualize this case using Existential therapy? • What would be your treatment plan for this client using an Existential approach?

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