Existential therapy - Experiential and Relationship-Oriented Therapies

Question 1

Key figures:

Answer 1

Viktor Frankl, Rollo May, and Irvin Yalom
James Bugental - 1915 - 2008 - life-changing psychotherapy
Emmy Van Deurezen - not designed to cue people, sick of life

Question 2

Theory

Answer 2

Reacting against the tendency to view therapy as a system of well-defined techniques, this model stresses building therapy on the basic conditions of human existence, such as choice, the freedom and responsibility to shape one’s life, and self-determination. It focuses on the quality of the person-to-person therapeutic relationship.

Person to person relationship, not really technique oriented, but therapists adapt their interventions to their own personality and style, as well as being sensitive to what each client requires

Question 3

Basic Philosophies

Answer 3

The central focus is on the nature of the human condition, which includes a capacity for self-awareness, freedom of choice to decide one’s fate, responsibility, anxiety, the search for meaning, being alone and being in relation with others, striving for authenticity, and facing living and dying.

Question 4

Key Concepts

Answer 4

Essentially an experiential approach to counseling rather than a firm theoretical model, it stresses core human conditions. Interest is on the present and on what one is becoming. The approach has a future orientation and stresses self-awareness before action.

Question 5

Goals of Therapy

Answer 5

To help people see that they are free and to become aware of their possibilities. To challenge them to recognize that they are responsible for events that they formerly thought were happening to them. To identify factors that block freedom.

Question 6

Therapeutic Relationship

Answer 6

The therapist’s main tasks are to accurately grasp clients’ being in the world and to establish a personal and authentic encounter with them. The immediacy of the client–therapist relationship and the authenticity of the here-and-now encounter are stressed. Both client and therapist can be changed by the encounter.

Question 7

Techniques of Therapy

Answer 7

Few techniques flow from this approach because it stresses understanding first and technique second. The therapist can borrow techniques from other approaches and incorporate them in an existential framework. Diagnosis, testing, and external measurements are not deemed important. Issues addressed are freedom and responsibility, isolation and relationships, meaning and meaninglessness, living and dying.

Question 8

Application of Approaches

Answer 8

This approach is especially suited to people facing a developmental crisis or a transition in life and for those with existential concerns (making choices, dealing with freedom and responsibility, coping with guilt and anxiety, making sense of life, and finding values) or those seeking personal enhancement. The approach can be applied to both individual and group counseling, and to couples and family therapy, crisis intervention, and community mental health work.

Question 9

Contributions to Multicultural Counseling

Answer 9

Focus is on understanding client’s phenomenological world, including cultural background. This approach leads to empowerment in an oppressive society. Existential therapy can help clients examine their options for change within the context of their cultural realities. The existential approach is particularly suited to counseling diverse clients because of the philosophical foundation that emphasizes the human condition.

Question 10

Limitations to Multicultural Counseling

Answer 10

Values of individuality, freedom, autonomy, and self-realization often conflict with cultural values of collectivism, respect for tradition, deference to authority, and interdependence. Some may be deterred by the absence of specific techniques. Others will expect more focus on surviving in their world.

Question 11

Contribution of the Approach

Answer 11

Its major contribution is recognition of the need for a subjective approach based on a complete view of the human condition. It calls attention to the need for a philosophical statement on what it means to be a person. Stress on the I/Thou relationship lessens the chances of dehumanizing therapy. It provides a perspective for understanding anxiety, guilt, freedom, death, isolation, and commitment.

Question 12

Limitations of the Approach

Answer 12

Many basic concepts are fuzzy and ill-defined, making its general framework abstract at times. Lacks a systematic statement of principles and practices of therapy. Has limited applicability to lower functioning and nonverbal clients and to clients in extreme crisis who need direction.

Question 13

Basic Dimensions of human condition

Answer 13

1. the capacity for self-awareness
2. freedom and responsibility (existential guilt, authenticity)
3. striving for identity and relationship to others - the courage to be, the experience of aloneness, the experiences of relatedness, struggling with our identity
4. The search for meaning - the problem of discarding old values, meaninglessness, creating new meaning
5. Anxiety as a condition of living - (existential anxiety, normal anxiety and neurotic anxiety)
6. Awareness of Death and Nonbeing

Question 14

Restricted existence

Answer 14

clients have a limited awareness of themselves and are often vague about the nature of their problems.

Question 15

Existential Tradition

Answer 15

seeks a balance between recognizing the limits and tragic dimensions of human existence and the opportunities of life.

Question 16

Application to Group Therapy

Answer 16

Existential group therapy provides an ideal environment for members to work on responsibility, as they learn how their behaviour affects other members and are responsible for their behaviour within the group. Members in the group receive feedback from the others in the group, allowing them to see themselves through the eyes of others and providing a mirror to how they may act in the world. By operating on the principles of enabling members to become honest with themselves, widening their perspectives on themselves and the world around them, and clarifying what gives meaning to their present and future life, members are given the opportunity to be fully themselves and relate to others in meaningful ways, building their interpersonal skills. The paradoxes of existence can further be explored as group members learn to accept the reality of anxiety, discover that there are no ultimate answers for their concerns, and make choices in the face of uncertainty.