EXISTENTIAL THERAPY Quotations Quotations Quotations Existential Approach Key Concepts
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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 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” We pose questions: Goes against use of “techniques”; – “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 Existential therapy reacts against Definition: 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 7 acts as a catalyst for finding meanin8 g 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 – Tension between freedom & & divergent methods of responsibility understanding people – 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 We are free to choose among alternatives…we FREE BEINGS, WE MUST ACCEPT 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 responsibility This central issue in therapy leads to – “Naturally I grew up this way b/c I’m from an alcoholic family” (playing the victim role; blaming – (1) Commitment to Choose and 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) Clients who refuse to accept responsibility by – They go hand in hand 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 search within and find our own MAKING A LIVING THAT 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 Prop. 4: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR Relatedness 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 PROJECTS - Corey not our deprivation 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 working – When we can stand alone, then “The will to meaning” is our primary striving relationships are based on our – Life is not meaningful in itself; WE must “fulfillment” and not on our 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 Existential guilt: WHAT DO YOU ‘LOVE’ EVERYDAY? – 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 Anxiety – A Condition of Living Anxiety – A Condition of Living Prop. 5: ANXIETY IS PART OF THE We can blunt anxiety by HUMAN CONDITION restricting our lives & thus Existential anxiety is normal - life cannot be lived, nor can death be faced, without anxiety reducing choices – Anxiety can be a stimulus for growth as we Opening up to NEW life become aware of and accept our freedom means opening up to – We can blunt our anxiety by creating the illusion that there is security in life anxieties – If we have the courage to face ourselves and life we may be frightened, but we will be able to change – Need normal anxiety to be able to survive (we don’t strive to eliminate this!) – Neurotic anxiety is NOT healthy, and is very25 26 limiting (out of proportion to situation) Awareness of Awareness of Death and Nonbeing Death and Nonbeing Prop. 6: DEATH IS ALSO A BASIC We have LIMITED time to complete HUMAN CONDITION, AND our projects! AWARENESS OF IT GIVES Each moment is crucial! SIGNIFICANCE TO LIVING Our awareness of death is the source It is a basic human condition and it is of ZEST for life & creativity! necessary so that we can think about Answer the following: – “If you knew you had 1 week to live, how life would you spend it? According to the existential – “If you knew you had 1 year to live, how viewpoint, death gives significance to would you spend it? living – “If you knew you had 10 years to live, how 27 would you spend it? 28 Relationship Between Relationship Between Therapist & Client Therapist & Client Therapy is a journey taken by therapist Client-therapist relationship is of and client paramount importance because quality of – Person-to-person relationship/encounter is the I/Thou encounter offers a context for a stimulus to positive change in client change – Relationship demands that therapists be in contact with their own phenomenological Instead of prizing therapeutic objectivity & world professional distance, existential therapists value being fully present, & they Core of the therapeutic relationship strive to create caring relationships with – Respect & faith in the clients’ potential