Week 2 – DQ

Do you think it is possible to combine client-centered and existential approaches in therapy? Why or why not?
Explain what a combined approach might look like.

It is possible to combine both the client-centered therapy and the existential approach to therapy
as there are similarities in their therapeutic approach. In both methods, the counselor allows the
client to discover their own truth. Both methods also stress authenticity and transparency in the
therapeutic relationship ((Stumm, 2005). Additionally, both of these approaches share a belief
that people have the capacity for self-awareness and choice. However, the two come to this
belief through different theories (Murdock, 2017). Client-centered therapy, created by Carl
Rogers, has been considered an influential theory. It has formed the foundation for most
approaches to counseling as it relates to the therapeutic relationship (Murdock, 2017, p. 167).
The client-centered approach focuses on the client's ability to fulfill their own potential for
growth. Person-centered counselors do not diagnose or assess. They "simply provide the right
atmosphere and trust the client to lead the way" (Murdock, 2017, p. 176). The existential
approach is that humans are free, are responsible for their own lives, and have the potential for
self-actualization (Murdock, 2017, p. 176). Existential therapy assumes the belief that people's
problems come from not exercising choice and judgment enough--or well enough--to forge
meaning in their lives, and that each individual is responsible for making meaning out of life. For
the existential therapist, life is much more of a confrontation with negative internal forces than it
is for the client-centered therapist (Stumm, 2005).

Murdock, N. L. (2017). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy(4thed.). Retrieved

from http://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/pearson/2016/theories-of-counseling-and-
psychotherapy_a-case-approach_ebook_4e.php

Stumm, G. (2005). The Person-Centered Approach from an Existential Perspective / El enfoque

centrado en la persona desde una perspectiva existencial. / Der Personzentrierte Ansatz aus
existenzieller Sicht.Null, 4(2), 106-123. 10.1080/14779757.2005.9688375