Key Figures in contemporary
Existential Psychotherapy
Viktor Frankl
Rollo May
Contribution
-Developed the Logo therapy-
which means therapy through
meaning.
-Existential vacuum, the
inability to find or create
meaning in life, leading to
feelings of emptiness,
alienation, futility, and
aimlessness.  paradoxical Intention, where
- His psychology is called
Existential psychology focuses
on man's search for meaning
and purpose in life
- It takes courage “to be” and
our choices determine the
kind of person we become.
- His famous book Love and
Will the principle that an
awareness of death is essential
to life, rather than being
opposed to life, and other
books including Man’s Search
for Himself,The Meaning of
Anxiety, and The Courage to
Create.
Difference Similarities
- Central themes running
through his work are life has
meaning. Individuals to find
meaning and purpose through
other things like suffering,
work, and love.
- logotherapy has been used in
several techniques in
enhancing the quality of one’s
life. One concept is
the therapist encourages the
patient to intend or wish for,
even if only for a second,
precisely what they fear. This
is especially useful for
obsessive, compulsive and
phobic conditions, as well as -Focus in understanding of
cases of underlying what is being a human.
anticipatory anxiety. Another
is dereflection, whereby the -Helping client to establish
therapist diverts the patients meaning in life and creating
away from their problems one’s identity.
towards something else
meaningful in the world.
-Awareness of their own self
-Focuses on the capacity for and their own capacity.
growth and achievement in
human beings. The feelings of -To help client grow and be
anxiety and fears are free from their stagnation.
necessary experience if
personal growth and meaning -To help individual break free
were to be achieved in life. from their anxiety
-His primary aim was to -Help clients Create purpose in
understand the underlying their life.
mechanisms and reality
behind human suffering and -Leading their client in living
crises; he did this by life authentically.
combining elements of
humanism with existentialism
in his approach to therapy.
Irvin Yalom -Develop an approach to
group and individual
psychotherapy
-Common themes include fear
of death, the drive toward
freedom, and the desire to
avoid isolation.  mortality, and freedom.
-Eleven therapeutic factors
that influence change and
healing in group therapy, they
are instillation of hope,
Universality, Imparting
information, Altruism,
Corrective recapitulation,
Socializing techniques,
imitative behavior, imitative
behavior, Group cohesiveness,
Catharsis, Existential factors
-Some of his books The Theory
and Practice of Group
Psychotherapy, Love’s
Executioner, Momma and the
Meaning of Life.
James Bugental -Coin the term existential-
Humanistic psychotherapy
- His book Psychotherapy Isn’t
What You Think is, an
important contribution to the
literature. It is particularly an
important read for therapist
desiring to become better at
working in the here-and-now
of therapy, those wishing to
improve there ability to work
with resistance, and those
wanting to improve their
ability to deal with process
elements of therapy.
-best known titles include The
Search for Authenticity,
Psychotherapy and Process,
The Art of the Psychotherapist,
and his final
-Group therapy produced
specific dynamics that increase
healing while challenging the
therapist. Recognizes four
basic human issues that all
people struggle with:
isolation, meaninglessness,
 
-Does not rely upon symptom-
based diagnosis; instead, he
focuses upon the very real,
human encounter between
himself and his client, and the
relationship that builds
between them during the
course of psychotherapy.
-Cultivation of both the
Therapist and client. Purpose
of the Therapist is to assist the
client in deepening their
searching. Help the client in
their resistance not just in
therapy but also in life. The
essence part of his therapy is
focusing living in the moment
what is here and now.
-His approach to
psychotherapy incorporated
the humanness of both
counselor and client.
-His theory and practice
emphasized the distinction
between therapeutic process
and content.
 book, Psychotherapy Isn’t
What You Think. 
-Here-and-Now dialogue,
exploring in the context of self
as client or therapist.

https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-victor-frankl-s-logotherapy-4159308

https://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/rollo-may.html

https://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/irvin-yalom.html

https://prezi.com/qq8wjjtmzimh/key-figures-in-contemporary-existential-psychotherapy/

https://peoplepill.com/people/james-bugental/