EXISTENTIAL THERAPY

CASTRO. CORPUZ. MANIQUIS. MARTIN

EXISTENTIAL THERAPY
 Existential therapy is more a way of thinking, or an attitude about
psychotherapy, than a particular style of practicing psychotherapy.
 Existential therapy described as a philosophical approach that influences a
counselor’s therapeutic practice.
 Existential therapy focuses on exploring themes such as mortality, meaning,
freedom, responsibility, anxiety and aloneness as these relate to a person’s
current struggle. The goal of existential therapy is to assist clients in their
exploration of the existential “given of life”.
 Existential therapists believe we retain the freedom to choose how we
respond to such events.
 Existential therapy is grounded on the assumption that we are free and
therefore responsible for our choices and actions.
EXISTENTIAL THERAPY
The first step in therapeutic journey is for clients to accept
responsibility. As Yalom (2003) puts it, “once individuals recognize
their role in creating their own life predicament, they also realize
that they, and only they, have the power to change that situation”.
One of the aim of existential therapy is to challenge people to stop
deceiving themselves regarding their lack of responsibility for what is
happening to them and their excessive demands on life (van Deurzen,
2002b)
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IN PHILOSOPHY AND
EXISTENTIALISM
 The existential therapy movement was not founded by any
particular person or group; many streams od thought contributed
to it.
 Existential therapy arose spontaneously in different parts of
Europe. Many Europeans found that their lives been devastated by
World War II, and they struggled with existential issues including
feelings of isolation, alienation, and meaninglessness.
 The thinking of existential psychologist and psychiatrists was
influences by a number of philosophers, and writers during the 19th
century.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IN PHILOSOPHY AND
EXISTENTIALISM
 Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) a Danish philosopher and Christian theologian,
Kierkegaard was particularly concerned with angst-a Danish and German word
whose meaning lies between English words dread and anxiety. And he
addressed the role of anxiety and uncertainty in life.
 Ludwig Binswanger (1881-1966) an existential analyst, Binswanger proposed a
holistic model of self that addresses the relationship between the person and
his or her environment. He used phenomenological approach to explore
significant features to the self, including choice, freedom, and caring.
 Medard Boss (1903-1991) both Binswanger and Boss were early existential
psychoanalyst and significant figures in the development of existential
psychotherapy. They made reference to dasein or being-in-the-world, which
pertains to our ability to reflect on life events and attribute meaning to
events.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND IN PHILOSOPHY AND
EXISTENTIALISM
 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) a philosopher and novelist, Sartre was
convinced, in part by his years in the French Resistance in World
War II, that humans are even more free than earlier existentialists
had believed. “Our values are what we choose”. Sartre’s view was
that at every moment, by our actions, we are choosing who we are
being.
KEY FIGURES IN CONTEMPORARY EXISTENTIAL
PSYCHOTHERAPY
 Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) was a central figure in developing
existential therapy in Europe and also in bringing it to the United
States. Frankl was deeply influenced by Freud, but he became a
student of Adler.
He was fond of quoting Nietzsche: “He who has a why to live for can
bear with almost any how”
Frankl developed logotherapy, which means “therapy through
meaning.”
Frankl, the most powerful motivation for humans is the “will to
meaning”.
KEY FIGURES IN CONTEMPORARY EXISTENTIAL
PSYCHOTHERAPY
 Rollo May (1909-1994) was deeply influenced by the existential
philosophers, by the concept of Freudian psychology, and by many
aspects of Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology.
 Irvin Yalom (1931-) Yalom has developed his approach to individual and
group psychotherapy based on the notion that existentialism deals with
basic “givens of existence”: isolation and relationship with others;
death ad living fully: and meaninglessness and meaning.
 James Bugental (1915-2008) coined the term “existential-humanistic”
psychotherapy, and he was a leading spokesman for this approach. He
developed techniques to assist client in deepening inner exploration, or
searching. The therapist’s primary task involved helping clients to make
new discoveries about themselves in the living moment.
KEY FIGURES
OF EXISTENTIAL THERAPY
Proposition 1: The Capacity for Self-
Awareness
 freedom, choice, and responsibility creates the
foundation of self-awareness (Corey, 2012). This
concept tells us that we can either limit or
expand our conscious depending on our
awareness. By expanding our self-awareness
allows to grow in our life and in the things we do
in life.
Proposition 2: Freedom and
Responsibility
this concept deals wit a person to having freedom
to choose whatever they want for shaping their
own destiny (Corey, 2012).
 This meaning we are responsible for our actions
and everything else we choose to do with our life.
According to Frankl, freedom and responsibility
are often linked together (Corey, 2012).
 It is very important to consider culture
backgrounds when counseling someone and
assisting them with their choices.
Proposition 3: Striving for Identity and
Relationship to Others
 this concepts deals with people being concerned
about themselves but also likes to relate to other
human beings.
 Everyone wants to create their own personal identity
(Corey, 2012).
 We often look for answer, try to choose our values
and beliefs from other people not truly from within
ourselves.
 According to Corey, we are constantly looking at
what others are expecting from us rather than just
trusting our own instinct (Corey, 2012).
Proposition 4: The Search for Meaning
 according to Corey, it is a constant struggle to
find a purpose in life (p. 151). In existential
therapy this is often the goal to find the meaning
or challenge the meaning of their life.
 The questions often ask when trying to find the
meaning of life are why am I here, what do i want
from life, what gives my life purpose, and where
is the source of meaning in my life (Corey, 2012).
Proposition 5: Anxiety as a Condition of
Living
 This concept says anxiety is something that
becomes greater as we realize our freedoms and
consequences of accepting or rejecting that
freedom (Corey, 2012).
 Anxiety comes from a person's strive to survive
and this often makes a person feel anxiety.
Anxiety can often be a sign one is desiring
personal change in which can help with personal
growth.
Proposition 6: Awareness of Death and Nonbeing as
a Condition of Living
 according to Corey, a existentialist does not think
of death as a negative thing but gives significance
to living.
 A important human characteristic is the ability to
understand the reality of death and dying. Death
should not be considered a bad thing but
something to motivate one to appreciate the
present time and not worry about the future.
THERAPEUTIC PROCESS
OF EXISTENTIAL THERAPY
THERAPEUTIC GOALS
 Existential therapy is best considered as an
invitation to clients to recognize the ways in
which they are not living fully authentic and to
make choices that will lead to their becoming
what they are capable of being.
 An aim of this therapy is to assist clients in
moving toward authenticity and learning to
recognize when they are deceiving themselves.
 Existential therapy aims at helping clients face
anxiety and engage in action that is based on the
authentic purpose of creating a worthy existence.
THERAPIST’S FUNCTION AND ROLE
 Existential therapists are primarily concerned with
understanding the subjective world of clients to help
them come to new understanding and options.
 A therapist’s function is to assist clients in seeing the
ways in which they constrict their awareness and the
cost of such constrictions (Bugental, 1997).
 Existential therapists encourage experimentation not
only within the therapy office but also outside the
therapy setting, based on the belief that life outside
therapy is what counts.
CLIENT’S EXPERIENCE ON THERAPY
 Clients in existential therapy is clearly encouraged to
assume responsibility for they are currently choosing to
be in their own world.
 Clients wedge open the closed doors and they also
begin to loosen the deterministic shackles that have
kept them psychologically bound.
 Individuals should take small steps.
 Confronting ultimate concerns rather than coping with
immediate problems.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THERAPIST AND CLIENT
 The quality of person-to-person encounter in the therapeutic
situation is the stimulus for positive change.
 Basic attitudes toward the client and their own personal
characteristics of honesty, integrity and courage are what
the therapist has to offer.
 I/Thou relationship is essential for connecting the self to the
spirit to achieve true dialogue.
 The core of the therapeutic relationship is respect, which
implies faith in client’s potential to cope authentically with
troubles and ability to discover alternative ways of being.
 THERAPEUTIC
TECHNIQUES AND
PROCEDURES
OF EXISTENTIAL THERAPY
 Existential approach is unlike most other therapies in that is
not technique-oriented.
 Interventions are made within the context of striving to
understand the subjective world of the client.
 The interventions existential practitioners employ are based
on philosophical views about the nature of human existence.
 “Existential therapists prefer to be thought of as
philosophical companions, not as people who repair psyches”
–Vontress, 2008
 Van Deurzen stated that the starting point for existential
work is for practitioners to clarify their views on life and
living.
 The importance of therapists should reach sufficient depth
and openness in their own lives to venture into the client’s
murky waters without getting lost.
 “Existential therapy is a collaborative adventure in which
both client and therapist will be transformed if they allow
themselves to be touched by life.” –Van Deurzen
PHASES OF EXISTENTIAL COUNSELING
 Initial Phase
 Therapists assist clients in identifying and clarifying their
assumptions about the world.
 Clients are invited to define and question the ways in which they
perceive and make sense of their existence.
 They examine their values, beliefs, and assumptions to determine
their validity.
PHASES OF EXISTENTIAL COUNSELING
 Middle Phase
 Clients are assisted in more fully examining the source and
authority of their present value system.
 This process of self-exploration typically leads to new
insights and some restructuring of values and attitudes
PHASES OF EXISTENTIAL COUNSELING
 Final Phase
 The final phase of existential counseling focuses on
helping people take what they are learning about
themselves and put it into action.
 Transformation is not limited to what takes place during
the therapy hour.
 The therapeutic hour is a small contribution to a person’s
renewed engagement with life, or a rehearsal for life.
CLIENTS APPROPRIATE FOR EXISTENTIAL COUNSELING
 Existential practice has been applied in a variety of
settings and with a diverse population of clients including
those with substance abuse issues, ethnic and racial
minorities, gay and lesbian clients, and psychiatric
inpatients.
 For people who are coping with developmental crises,
experiencing grief and loss, contemplating suicide, or
facing a major life decision, existential therapy is
appropriate.
 Also appropriate for people who feel alienated from the
current expectations of society and people who are
searching for meaning in their lives.
APPLICATION FOR BRIEF THERAPY
 Existential approach can focus clients on
significant areas such as assuming the personal
responsibility, making a commitment to deciding
and acting, and expanding their awareness of
their current situation.
 It is important for individuals to evaluate what
they have accomplished and what issues may
need to be addressed later.
APPLICATION FOR GROUP COUNSELING
 An existential group can be described as people making a
commitment to a lifelong journey of self-exploration with
these goals:
1. Enabling members to become honest with themselves
2. Widening their perspectives on themselves and the
world around them
3. Clarifying what gives meaning to their present and
future life

 Yalom (1980) contends that the group provides the

optimal conditions for therapeutic work on responsibility.
APPLICATION FOR GROUP COUNSELING
 Through feedback, members learn to view themselves through
others’ eyes and they learn the ways in which their behavior
affects others
 The group experience provides the opportunity to participants to
relate to others in meaningful ways, to learn to be themselves in
the company of other people, and to establish rewarding,
nourishing relationships.
 In existential group counseling, members come to terms with the
paradoxes of existence.
 Members experience anxiety when they recognize the realities of
the human condition
APPLICATION FOR GROUP COUNSELING
 Members can openly share their fears related to living in
unfulfilling ways and come to recognize how they have
compromised their integrity.
 Members can gradually discover ways in which they have
lost their direction and can begin to be more true to
themselves
 Members learn that it is not in others that they find the
answers to questions about significance and purpose in
life