Counseling Theory

The basis for the Existential therapy is the desire for authenticity where an individual
finds and pursues a meaning for life. In this approach people seek to fully experience their
existence developing meaning and purpose in the events that touch their lives. This type of
therapy emphasizes on the individuals ability to have freedom of choice when determining the
purpose of their circumstances. Existential therapy focuses mainly on the person-to-person
relationship. An aim of this type of 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. Existential therapy is more a way of thinking than any particular style of practicing
psychotherapy.
Existential therapy is a philosophy about human nature. This theory deals with human
nature according to the physical, social, personal/psychological, and spiritual dimensions. On the
physical dimension individuals relate to their environment and to the givens of the natural world
around them. Social dimension refers to how individuals relate to others as they interact with the
public world around them. On a personal/psychological level individuals can related to them and
create a personal world. Spiritual dimensions relate to the unknown and thus create a sense of an
ideal world. This theory deals with the individuals capacity for self-awareness through the
understanding that the ability to choose a potential action or not to make a decision is active and
not passive. As individuals understand that the direction of their life is in their own hands, how
they engage life and view the events around them becomes more personal.
Existential therapy views human nature in terms of the capacity for self-awareness, the
tension between freedom and responsibility, the creation of an identity and establishing
meaningful relationships, the search for meaning, and anxiety as a condition of living, and the
awareness of death. Through self-awareness we can reflect and make choices. We can also
choose among alternatives and shape our own destinies through freedom and responsibility. In
striving for identity and relationship to others we want to preserve our own unique identity. At
the same time, we need to relate to others and to nature. We try to find our purpose in our lives.
Anxiety, in the existential sense, is an unavoidable condition of living when confronted with
death, freedom, choice, isolation and meaninglessness. By accepting the inevitability of death,
one gains the motivation to live life fully and with meaning.
The Existential therapy gives emphasis on the individual and how they related to the
world. This type of therapy states that human beings are free to choose what to make of
themselves; they are responsible in choosing their own course of action; they are limited in their
finite world, yet, they can live their own meaning and interpretation; they live in an uncertain
world which has limitations such as laws, codes of society, illness and death, yet, by recognizing
their individuality and potentialities they can choose to live authentically. Freedom is basic to
existentialist understanding of human nature because it underlies our ability to choose.
Individuals are free to choose among their options and therefore have a large role in shaping their
destinies. With freedom, we must also accept the responsibility for directing our lives. Freedom
and responsibility go hand in hand.
There are many therapeutic goals of Existential therapy. This type of therapy wants to
ensure individuals are able to face life honestly, as they look at experiences and integrate
meaning and purpose into their worldview. Therapy with an existential view helps individuals
acknowledge the freedom and responsibility they have for choices and decisions. Identity and
relationships with others develop, eventually leading to authenticity that creates the foundation
for health. Existential therapy focuses on helping clients live with freedom and to remove the
limitations that are self-imposed. By challenging clients about rigid beliefs and thought patterns,
therapists work to provide an environment where individuals are safe to consider their belief
systems and adopt new views. This therapy focuses on current life situations the client is dealing
with rather than resolving past issues. Another aspect of the experience of being a client in
existential therapy is confronting ultimate concerns rather than coping with immediate problems.
Clients in this therapy are encouraged to take seriously their own subjective experience of their
world.