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Quotations
"We who lived in concentration camps can
remember the men who walked through the
EXISTENTIAL THERAPY huts comforting others, giving away their
last piece of bread. They may have been few
Psychology 460 in number, but they offer sufficient proof
that everything can be taken from a man but
Counseling and Interviewing one thing: the last of human freedoms - to
Sheila K. Grant, Ph.D. choose one's attitude in any given set of
circumstances - to choose one's own way.”
– Victor Frankl
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Quotations Quotations
"Man's Search for meaning is the primary “The deeper sorrow carves into your
motivation in his life and not a 'secondary being the more joy you can contain.”
rationalization' of instinctual drives. This –Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
meaning is unique and specific in that it
must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only
then does it achieve a significance which will
satisfy his own will to meaning... Man,
however, is able to live and even to die for
the sake of his ideals and values!"
– Victor Frankl
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Existential Approach Key Concepts
Developed as a reaction against Human is a constant state of
–Psychoanalysis transition:
–Behaviorism –Emerging, evolving and “becoming”
Goes against use of “techniques”; We pose questions:
–“Who Am I”
Instead focus is on –“What can I know”
–“understanding what it means to be –“Where Am I Going”
human” –“What ought I do”
–“What can I hope for”
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Existential Therapy Existential Therapy
A Philosophical/Intellectual Approach to Therapy A Philosophical/Intellectual Approach to Therapy
Definition: Existential therapy reacts against
tendency to view therapy as a system of
–a philosophical approach that emphasizes well-defined techniques
our freedom to choose what to make of It affirms looking at those unique
our circumstances characteristics that make us human &
–So we are free & therefore responsible for building therapy on them
our choices & actions Emphasizes choice, freedom,
APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING responsibility & self-determination
HUMANS In essence, we are the author of our life
Awareness of our eventual nonbeing
acts as a catalyst for finding meaning
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Existential Therapy Existential Therapy
A Philosophical/Intellectual Approach to Therapy A Philosophical/Intellectual Approach to Therapy
Existential movement stands for BASIC DIMENSIONS – OF THE HUMAN
respect for the person, exploring CONDITION (6 Propositions)
new aspects of human behavior, –Capacity for self-awareness
& divergent methods of –Tension between freedom &
understanding people responsibility
–Creating one’s identity & establishing
meaningful relationships
–Search for meaning, purpose, values, &
goals
–Accepting anxiety as a condition of
living
9 –Awareness of death and nonbeing 10
APPROACH TO Capacity for Self-Awareness
UNDERSTANDING HUMANS
Prop. 1: WE HAVE THE CAPACITY FOR
Philosophical assumptions underlying SELF-AWARENESS - Corey
the existential approach include the To expand our awareness is to increase our
notions that: capacity to live fully
The greater our awareness, the greater our
–We are ‘thrust’ into a meaningless & possibilities for freedom
absurd world & that we are basically Awareness is realizing that:
alone – We are finite - time is limited
–We must create our own meanings – We have the potential, the choice, to act or not
through choices to act
– Meaning is not automatic - we must seek it
– We are subject to loneliness, meaninglessness,
11 emptiness, guilt, and isolation 12
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Freedom and Responsibility Freedom and Responsibility
Prop. 2: BECAUSE WE ARE BASICALLY
FREE BEINGS, WE MUST ACCEPT We are free to choose among alternatives…we
have a role in shaping our destinies
RESPONSIBILITY THAT ACCOMPANIES OUR “Bad Faith” (Jean-Paul Sartre, 1971)
FREEDOM - Corey – The inauthenticity of not accepting personal
This central issue in therapy leads to responsibility
– “Naturally I grew up this way b/c I’m from an
– (1) Commitment to Choose and alcoholic family” (playing the victim role; blaming
external forces)
– (2) Being Authentic The guilt we experience when we don’t live
This existential idea involves the notion that authentically
Inauthenticity is assuming external forces
– Our freedom requires us to accept responsibility control our lives
for directing our own life Assuming responsibility is a basic condition for
– We are free to choose who we will be change (e.g., AA)
– They go hand in hand Clients who refuse to accept responsibility by
persistently Blaming others for their problems
Rollo May will not benefit from therapy
– Contends F & R are two sides of same coin 13 14
Freedom and Responsibility
Note: Authorship
People come into counseling
feeling they’ve lost control of Notion of authorship states that
their lives we are authors of our life in the
They want advice & magical sense that we create our
cures –Destiny
Job of existential therapists is to –Life situation
–recognize how client has given –Problems
away power &
–help client work toward autonomy
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Identity and Relationship Identity and Relationship
Prop. 3: WE HAVE A CONCERN TO Experience of aloneness:
PRESERVE OUR UNIQUENESS & IDENTITY; –Part of human condition
WE COME TO KNOW OURSELVES IN –We must learn to enjoy being alone
RELATION TO KNOWING & INTERACTING before we can enjoy being with
WITH OTHERS - Corey others
Striving for Identity & Responsibility –We are ultimately alone, yet related
to others:
– Helps us find & create our personal identity –We alone must give a sense of
– Courage to be takes a lot of guts b/c we meaning to our life
may not like what we see –The experience of relatedness will
– People fear they’ll discover they have no improve once you’re comfortable
core; no self with yourself
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Identity and Relationship Identity and Relationship
Identity is “the courage to be” “DON’T GET SO BUSY
–We must trust ourselves to MAKING A LIVING THAT
search within and find our own
answers YOU FORGET TO MAKE A
Struggling with our identity LIFE”
–“some become trapped in a
“doing” mode to avoid the
experience of “being”
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Identity and Relationship Search for Meaning
Relatedness Prop. 4: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR
EXISTENCE & THE MEANING OF OUR LIFE ARE
–At their best our relationships are NEVER FIXED ONCE & FOR ALL; INSTEAD, WE
based on our desire for fulfillment, RE-CREATE OURSELVES THROUGH OUR
not our deprivation PROJECTS - Corey
Meaning – like pleasure, meaning must be
–Relationships that spring from our pursued obliquely
sense of deprivation are clinging, – Finding meaning in life is a by-product of a
parasitic, and symbiotic commitment to creating, loving, and
–When we can stand alone, then working
relationships are based on our “The will to meaning” is our primary striving
“fulfillment” and not on our – Life is not meaningful in itself; WE must
create and discover meaning
“deprivation” Problem of discarding old values and not
21 replacing them with suitable new ones 22
Search for Meaning Search for Meaning
Meaningless in life leads to emptiness & WHAT DO YOU ‘CREATE’ EVERYDAY?
hollowness
Existential vacuum: WHAT DO YOU ‘BUILD’ EVERYDAY?
– emptiness and hollowness WHAT DO YOU ‘LOVE’ EVERYDAY?
Existential guilt:
– Being aware of
having evaded a commitment, or
having chosen NOT to choose
Realization we’re not what we might have become
Creating new meaning in our lives
– c/n directly look for meaning:
Finding meaning is a by-product of
“engagement”:
– A commitment to creating, loving, working, &
building
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