Existential Therapy

Prepared by:
Patricia Mae A. Taba, MA, LPT, RPm, RGC
 • Based on a philosophical approach to people and
their existence , this deals with important life
themes.
WHAT IS
EXISTENTIAL • It is an attitudinal approach towards life (rather
than focusing on techniques and methods); it is a
THERAPY? way of being and a way of interacting with
oneself, others and the environment.
 Basic dimension of human
conditions in Existential Therapy
1. Capacity of self awareness: Existentialist believe that we
can increase our capacity to live fully, when we become fully
aware of our finite nature, our potential to take action, and
the choices available to us.
2. Freedom and Responsibility: One of the existential themes
is that people are free to choose among alternative and
therefore has a large role in shaping their destinies.
3. Creating one’s identity and establishing meaningful
relationship with others: Existentialist postulates that the
trouble with humans is that we sought for directions,
answers, values and believes from important people in our
lives, rather than trusting ourselves to search within to find
answers to the conflicts in our lives
 Basic dimension of human
conditions in Existential Therapy
4. Search for meaning, purpose, values and goals: The
struggle for a sense of significance and purpose in life is a
human characteristic
5. Anxiety as a Condition of Living: Existentialist believes that
opening up to new life means opening up to anxiety. People
experience anxiety when they use their freedom to move
out of the known to the realm of unknown
6. Awareness of Death and Nonbeing: Existential therapy does
not view death negatively but an as a basic human condition
that give significance to living
 PROPONENTS

Soren Kierkegaard • Grandfather of Existentialism

• Viewed individuals as desiring to be eternal, like God, but having to deal
with the fact that existence is temporary
Friedrich Nietzsche • Human Subjectivity – rationality of individual is misleading
(1844-1900) • Emphasized dynamics of resentment, guilt, hostility, attempt to repress
• Will to Power

Edmund Husserl • Phenomenology – study of objects as they are experienced in the

(1859-1938) consciousness of individuals
• Intentionality – process of bringing objects into the mind to
intentionally observe the environment
 PROPONENTS

• Awareness of Existence
Martin Heidegger
• Dasein – Being in the World
(1889-1976) • Attempting to attain high levels of consciousness and uniqueness by examining oneself, others and the
world.
• Das Man – refers to conventional thinking or going through the motions
• Individual starts in a state of “Inauthenticity”
• Humanity as being continually confronted with situations involving death, suffering, struggle and guilt.
Karl Jaspers (1883-
• Transcend – Individuals must find a way to transcend orientation of being-oneself, a state in which we
1969)
depend on awareness and assertion through choices and decisions.

• Death with issues concerning the meaning of human existence

Jean-Paul Sartre
• No intrinsic reason to explain why the world and humanity should exist; individuals must find a reason
(1905-1980) • No matter what a person has been, he can choose to be different
 PROPONENTS

•
Martin Buber (1878- Emphasized the betweenness of relationships. There is never just an I.
1965) There is also a “Thou”, if the peson is treated a human individual. If the
person is treated as an object the relationship becomes I-it

•
Gabriel Marcel Described the person-to-person relationship, focusing on the being-by-
(1889-1973) participation in which individuals know each other through love, hope
and faithfulness rather than as objects or as in “it”.

•
Paul Tillich (1886- Emphasized “Courage” which includes faith in one’s ability to make a
1965) meaningful life, as well as a knowledge of and a belief in an existential
view of life.
 PROPONENTS

• “Being in the World” – was his view of Fundamental Meaning Structure, which refers to the unlearned
Ludwig Binswanger ability of individuals to perceive meaning in their world and to go beyond specific situations to deal with
(1881-1966) life issues
• Existential a priori – provides individuals with the opportunity to develop their way of living and the
direction of their lives
• Outlines universal themes that individuals incorporate to varying degrees in their being in the world
Medard Boss (1903- • Individuals must co-exist in the same world and share that world with others. In doing so, individuals
1990) relate with varying degrees of openness and clarity to others (spatiality of existence) and do so in the
context of time (temporality of existence)
• Existential Theme: Guilt

• Even at the bleakest of situations, life can be meaningful.

Victor Frankl (1905- • Hence, there can be meaning in suffering.
1997) • He called his particular approach “Logotherapy”
• “Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose
one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” – V. Frankl
KEY CONCEPTS
Being in the World

• Existential Therapy stresses core human conditions. They

understand people as a beings-in-the-world who construct
their physical, personal, and relational worlds from their
individual experiences and circumstances in the world
(Krug, 2009).

• The ability to be consciously aware of themselves and

others separates human beings from other species

• Time / Being – Future, Past and Present (Role of Time)

 1. Umwelt: Biological World / Environment
(natural world)
2. Mitwelt: With-World / Human
Relationships (our world with other
Four Ways of people, with others)
3. Eigenwelt: Own-World / Relationships
Being that Individuals have to themselves
4. Uberwelt: Relationship with spiritual or
religious values
Anxiety
Normal Anxiety
• Appropriate in the situation the
individual deals with his life
• Not repressed
• Can confront existential dilemmas
(dying, responsibility, choices)

Neurotic Anxiety
• Blown out of proportion or
inappropriate for the particular event
Living and Dying

Although awareness of death can create dread in

individuals, it an also lead towards the development of
creative life (May, 1981). Awareness of death is
inescapable.

Sees death not as a threat but as an urging for

individuals to live their lives fully and to take advantage
of each opportunity to do something meaningful
(Gould, 1993)
Freedom, Responsibility and Choice

• In the pursuit of Freedom, individuals are

responsible for their own world, their life
plans and their choices.
 1. Interpersonal: Distance from others –
geographical, psychological or social
Isolation and 2. Intrapersonal: one separates parts of
Loving oneself by using defense mechanisms
3. Existential: Being separated from the
world; aloneness and isolation

• Loving – emphasizes “I-Thou” Relationship

Meaning and Meaninglessness

What about my What in my life

Why am I here? life do I find gives me a sense Why do I exist?
meaningful? of purpose?

Men is in constant search for Meaning

Self-Transcendence
• It is the existential nature of human beings to transcend their immediate
situation and their self-interest to strive toward something above themselves
(May, 1958).

• In order to self-realize, it is necessary first to be able to transcend oneself (Frankl,

1969)
 Striving for Refers to central
genuineness and
This includes a
willingness to face
Authenticity awareness of being up to the limitations
(Bugental, 1981) of human existence.
Goals of Therapy
Enable individual to accept freedom and
responsibility to act. It focuses on man having
free will with choices and consequence that
must be made and dealt with, even if it causes
anxiety.
Assist clients in moving towards authenticity
and learning to recognize when they are
deceiving themselves. It is not about fixing or
analyzing a psyche but it is about
understanding one’s existence and helping
people accept who they are and come to
terms with life as a human being.
“Anxiety is our best teacher. If you don’t have any
anxiety at all, you’re in very bad shape” (Schneider,
Galvin, & Serlin, 2009). The lack of guarantee in life
generates anxiety May (1981). People come to therapy
with a victim mentality and thinking that the
counselor can solve all their anxieties and problems.

Existential Therapy aims to help clients become aware

of what they are doing and get them out of the victim
role.
Therapeutic
techniques
Short-Term Existential Model

Existential therapy is unlike most other therapies because it is not technique

oriented. There are 3 Principles of Short-Term Existential Model:
1. Therapist assists the clients in identifying and clarifying their
assumptions about the world. Clients are encouraged to take
responsibility for the problem in their lives and examine their values and
beliefs to determine their meaning in life.
2. Clients scrutinizes the source and authority of their value system so that
they can start to rearrange and shift some values, beliefs and attitudes in
order to get a clearer picture of what they want in life.
3. Counselor focuses on aiding people taking their new view on life and
implanting them into their daily routine.
Short-Term Existential Model

Six Phases of Short-Term Existential Therapy:

1. Assessment
2. Identify Concern
3. Teaching for Searching Process
4. Identifying Resistance
5. Therapeutic Work
6. Termination
THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP
• In the existential therapy the relationship between the therapist and the client is of utmost
importance. The core of the THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP is respect and trust in the client
by their therapist. Issues addressed by Therapeutic Relationships are (1) Therapeutic Love
(2) Resistance (3) Transference

• Example: Some clients enter therapy with problems relating to their sense of self-worth.
Some do not value their own goals. Some question their abilities. Discussing a client’s goals
and focusing on how they may be achieved implicitly emphasizes that the therapist values
the client.
Other Assessment Instruments
While Therapeutic Relationship is predominantly used, assessment
instruments (e.g. Patient’s Dream Materials, Objective Tests) may also be
included

Questions about client’s goals highlight that the counselor considers the
client’s dreams, hopes, desires worthy of attention

Focusing on goals and tasks allows the counselor takes the client’s life
seriously, perhaps more seriously than the client himself or herself. Thus,
such a focus undermines or challenges client’s feelings of low self-worth

Existential Counselors are assumed to have developed first their

COUNSELING SKILLS (Listening, Confrontative, etc.) before integrating
Existential Philosophy and Attitudes.
Cases in which
Existential
Approach Is THE EXISTENTIAL INTERVENTIONS ARE
RESPONSIVE TO THE UNIQUENESS OF
WHERE CLIENTS STRUGGLING WITH
DEVELOPMENTAL CRISES, DOING GRIEF
EACH CLIENT. WORK, CONFRONTING DEATH OR FACING
Most Useful A SIGNIFICANT DECISION, PEOPLE
PASSAGE FROM ONE STAGE OF LIFE TO
ANOTHER SUCH AS STRUGGLE FOR
IDENTITY IN ADOLESCENCE, COPING
WITH POSSIBLE DISAPPOINTMENT IN
MIDDLE AGE, COPING WITH FAILURE IN
MARRIAGE AND WORK, UNCERTAINTY,
ANXIETY, HIGH SCHOOL YOUTHS ETC.
Roles
 Role of Therapist
• Focus on individuals’ relationships with themselves, others and in the
environment and are concerned with universal themes
• Teaches client to listen to what they already know about themselves.
Increases awareness of the client is the central goal of the existential therapy
that allows clients to discover other alternatives that they did not recognize
before
• Focuses client to current life situations; focus is on the unique struggle of each
client
 Role of Therapist
• Uses various methods but not focuses on techniques to prevent feeling of being
manipulative, rigid, routinely

• Concerns client to accept personal responsibility and not blame others for the
predicament they are in

• Opens one self / share his or her lives by making it easy for the client to also
open up
 Role of Client
• In therapy clients learn to express their fears, guilty feelings and anxieties and
discover a meaningful future they want for themselves
• Clients are made aware that every situation presents a unique opportunity for
growth that meaning can be found in suffering, although suffering is not
necessary to discover meaning
• Clients begin to be aware of what they have been and who they are; eventually
learns to be self-aware, responsible for their freedom of choice, to examine the
way in which they lost touch with their identity before creating meaning for
their lives and finally see death and anxiety as part of life that must be dealt
with in order to lead to a fuller life.
 • Examines the degree to which their behavior is
influenced by family, cultural, social conditioning. If
personal needs cannot be satisfied or personal goal
cannot be realized in interpersonal relations, one may
experience frustration, anxiety, or depression (Chen,
2009). Existential issues transcend culture, gender,
biological and social realities – all these are
STRENGTHS encountered differently, depending upon one’s
gender or cultural identification

• Existential Therapy is Optimistic. Instead of focusing

on what’s lacking in people, it looks at the potential of
people to become great.
 • Emphasizes Individuality and Autonomy.
Clients are encouraged to focus on their
decisions, and great stress is given to free will.
Counselors reinforce their patients' ability to
choose and act according to their own internal
compass.

STRENGTHS • Strong emphasis on the individual's own

Experiences and Viewpoint. No two people are
alike, and so no two patients are expected to
have the same ideas, feelings, and experiences.
As a result, humanistic-existential therapy is
tailor-made for each client.
Criticisms
Intellectualization
• Existential counseling has been criticized
as being overly “intellectual.” Some argue
that those seeking therapy who cannot
relate to deep self-reflection and self-
examination may not be able to connect
to the process of existential work. People
seeking a more direct, time-limited
approach may benefit more from
cognitive-behavioral, rather than
existential, forms of therapy.
Religious Conflict
• There has been criticism that existential
counseling is in essence atheistic,
ostracizing people of religious faith.
• This criticism may in part stem from the
atheistic beliefs of some of the theorists
who have contributed to existential
thought and theory.
• It also stems from the fact that existential
counseling asks the individual to think
about aspects of life that have to do with
larger questions, such as why people exist
and what the purpose of life is. This may
be a conflict for some individuals, who
believe that it's the role of religion to
answer such large-scale questions.
 • Area of Multicultural Populations: Excessively
individualistic and ignores the social factors
that cause humans problems. Even though
clients change internally, the social factors and
environmental circumstances such as racism,
discrimination and oppression severely restrict
their ability to influence the direction of their
Other lives.

limitations • Example: An example is an African American

client who comes from the ghetto and the
existential therapist consistently tells the client
that he or she has a choice in making his or
her life better; when in reality he or she does
not.
 • Follows Philosophical Concepts that are
Abstract: As a result, it is not empirical in
nature. It is non-scientific and is very hard
to validate with science. This is a problem
for many people because they believe that
it is impossible to know how true it is or
Other how well it works if it is not scientifically
testable.
limitations
• Researches have pointed out that this
therapy works best for clients (who are
usually well-off) and does not suffer from
severe mental health. For severe cases,
this approach will not work.
Case of Stan
• Stan comes to counseling because of his drinking; convicted of driving under the influence
• Although I’d like to have people in my life, I just don’t seem to know how to go about making friends or getting close
to people.
• I’d like to turn my life around, but I have no sense of direction.
• I want to make a difference.
• I am afraid of failure.
• I know that when I feel alone, scared, and overwhelmed, I drink heavily to feel better.
• I am afraid of women.
• Sometimes at night I feel a terrible anxiety and feel as if I’m dying.
• I often feel guilty that I’ve wasted my life, that I’ve failed, and that I’ve let people down. At times like this, I get
depressed.
• I like it that I have determination and that I really want to change.
• I’ve never really felt loved or wanted by my parents.
• I’d like to get rid of my self-destructive tendencies and learn to trust people more.
• I put myself down a lot, but I’d like to feel better about myself.
 • There is an assumption that he has the
capacity to increase his self-awareness
and decide for himself the future
direction of his life
Case of Stan:
Existential • Stan needs to realize more than anything
else that he does not have to be the
Approach victim of his past conditioning but can be
the architect in redesigning his future

• Understanding Stan’s world, primarily by

establishing an authentic relationship as
a means to a fuller degree of self-
understanding
 • Stan’s anxiety as something negative, but as a
vital part of living with uncertainty and freedom.
Because there are no guarantees and because
the individual is ultimately alone
Case of Stan: • Stan can expect to experience some degree of
healthy anxiety, aloneness, guilt, and even
Existential despair. These conditions are not neurotic in
themselves, but the way in which Stan orients
Approach himself and copes with these conditions is
critical.
• Stan needs to accept the reality that he may at
times feel alone. Choosing for oneself and living
from one’s own center accentuates the
experience of aloneness. He is not, however,
condemned to a life of isolation, alienation from
others, and loneliness.
 • Sharf, R. (2008). Theories of Psychotherapy
and Counseling; pages 160-200
• Corey, G. (2013). Theory and Practice of
Counseling Psychotherapy: Ninth Edition.
Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. 136-169.
• Renata, Rebeca; Pro’s and Con’s of

References Existential Therapy;

http://www.ehow.com/info_8275265_pros-
cons-existential-counseling.html
• Assessing the Humanistic-Existential Model:
Strengths and Limitations;
http://study.com/academy/lesson/assessing
-the-humanistic-existential-model-
strengths-and-weaknessess.html