background of existential therapy
A philosophical / intellectual approach to therapy
Also a phenomenological approach (subjective approach, pondering about a person’s purpose or meaning of life)
Born from philosophy
- A phenomenological philosophy of “humanness”
- Humans are in a constant state of transition, evolving and becoming (meaning of life and who a person is are fluid)
- Clients are searching for meaning in their subjective worlds (how does client make sense of life)
Longer term type of therapy
-Looks at things in the moment, the only thing that matters is what is happening now
common questions asked
- “Who am I?”
- “I will die.”
- “What does it all mean?”
- “Will I die alone?”
- “How am I going to get to where I want to be in my life?”
what are the 6 basic themes of existential therapy
1) capacity for self awareness
2) freedom and responsibility
3) striving for identity
4) search for meaning
5) anxiety as a condition of living
6) awareness of death and non being
what is capacity of self awareness
We can reflect and make choices because we are capable of self-awareness.
Expanding our awareness in realizing that:
- We are finite - time is limited
- We have the potential, the choice, to act or not to act
- Meaning is not automatic - we must seek it (things do not always happen in the particular moment, you might realize this sometime down the line)
- We are subject to loneliness, meaninglessness, emptiness, guilt, and isolation
what is freedom and responsibility
- We are free to choose among alternatives (and make decisions among selves)
- We are responsible for our lives, for our action, and for our failure to take action.
- Existential guilt: people aware of making wrong decisions or avoiding commitment
- Blaming others for their problems— (we cannot do this, we are responsible for our actions)
- Recognize how they allowed others to decide for them and the price they pay
- Encourage them to consider the alternative options (how can you maintain autonomy, what can you do)
what is striving for identity
Identity is “the courage to be”
- Also striving for relationships with others
- If you are constantly blaming people it impacts your relationship with others
We must trust ourselves to search within and find our own answers
- Find uniqueness (What makes you different from someone else, do not compare self to others because everyone is in different situations)
- Our great fear is that we will discover that there is no core, no self
how to challenge clients struggling with their identity
in what ways that they have lost touch with they identity and letting others to design their life.
what is the search for meaning
Therapists trust is important in teaching clients to trust their own capacity to find their way of being.
-Find meaning themselves (by engaging and working in relationships)
Meaninglessness in life leads to emptiness and hollowness (existential vacuum)
Finding meaning in life is a by-product of engagement, which is a commitment to creating, loving, working, and building.
-Do not learn experiences if you do not engage
explain anxiety as a condition of living
Anxiety arises from one’s strivings to survive.
- It is a part of the experience of living, change comes out of anxiety
- Be mindful of anxiety when it is out of proportion
explain awareness of death
Death provides the motivation for us to live our lives fully and take advantage of each opportunity to do something meaningful.
- Life is limited, not ongoing, you do not have enormous amount of time to do things and make decisions
- Therapists talk about how you have to be aware of death to make moment and moment decisions (why not now?)
explain differences in people when they know they are going to die
When we know time is limited our experiences end up being different and what we do is different (some people want to get it all in, and others might not like that)
explain two kinds of relationships
1) Aloneness
- We are alone—So, we must give a sense of meaning to life, decide how we will live, have a relationship with ourselves, and learn to listen to ourselves.
- Or are they giving someone else power to make decisions for themselves
2) Relatedness
- We need to create a close relationship with others
- Challenging clients—-What they get from they relationship? How they avoid close relationship?
3 ways to feel disconnection
1) Interpersonal: I do not feel connection to others
2) Intrapersonal: I do not feel connection to self
3) Existential: not connected to self or others, overwhelming feeling of being isolated overall
- Neurotic tendencies
source of pathology in existential therapy
- Loss of meaning
- Not making choices
- Lack of relationship or alienation
- Denying alternatives when making choices
- Lying (inauthenticity) leads to neurotic anxiety
- Existential anxiety differs from neurotic anxiety
difference between Freud and existential
- Freud: instinctual drives produce anxiety, which produces defense mechanisms
- Existential: awareness of ultimate concerns produces anxiety, which produces defense mechanisms
what are therapy goals
- To expand self-awareness
- To increase potential choices
- To help client accept the responsibility for their choice
- To help the client experience authentic existence
therapists function and role
- Understand the client’s subjective world
- Encourage clients to accept personal responsibility
- When clients blame others, therapist is likely to ask them how they contributed to their situation
- No specific set of tools that you are using in existential therapy
clients experience in therapy
- They are challenged to take responsibility for how they now choose to be, decide how they want to be different, and take actions.
- Major themes in therapy sessions are anxiety, freedom and responsibility, isolation, death, and the search for meaning. (the 6 propositions)
- Not technique oriented or based on diagnosis
- Many will use techniques from other theories when they fit for clients, but do not have own techniques
- Client is center of therapy
- Assist client in facing life with courage, hope, and a willingness to find meaning in life.
relationship between therapist and client
- Therapy is a journey taken by therapist and client
- The person-to-person relationship is key
- The relationship demands that therapists be in contact with their own world
The core of the therapeutic relationship
- Respect and faith in the clients’ potential to cope
- Sharing reactions with genuine concern and empathy
techniques and procedures
- It is not technique-oriented
- The interventions are based on philosophical views about the nature of human existence.
- Free to draw techniques from other orientations
- The use of therapist self is the core of therapy
areas of applications
Grief work, facing a significant decision, coping with failures in relationships (personal, academic, occupational), dealing with difficulties around age, transitions, etc…
contributions from a multicultural perspective
- Applicable to diverse clients to search for meaning for life
- Be able to examine the behavior is influenced by social and cultural factors.
- Help clients to weigh the alternatives and consequences.
- Change external environment and recognize how they contribute
limitations from a multicultural perspective
- Excessively individualistic
- Ignore social factors that cause human problems
- Even if clients change internally, they see little hope the external realities of racism or discrimination will change
- For many cultures, it is not possible to talk about self and self-determination apart from the context of the social network
- Many clients expect a structured and problem-oriented approach instead of discussion of philosophical questions.
contributions
- Stress self-determination accepting the personal responsibility along with freedom
- View oneself as the author of one’s life
- Understand the value of anxiety and guilty, the positive meaning of death, the positive aspects of being alone and choosing for oneself
- Enable clients to examine how their behavior is being influenced by social and cultural conditioning.
