142x Filetype PDF File size 0.57 MB Source: www.csun.edu
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 1 2 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 3 4 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” 5 6 1 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 7 8 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 2 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 15 16 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 17 18 3 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” 19 20 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 23 24 4
no reviews yet
Please Login to review.