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Textbook Existential Integrative Approaches To Treating Adolescents 1St Edition DR David Shumaker Auth Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook Existential Integrative Approaches To Treating Adolescents 1St Edition DR David Shumaker Auth Ebook All Chapter PDF
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Existential-Integrative Approaches
to Treating Adolescents
David Shumaker
Existential-Integrative
Approaches to
Treating Adolescents
David Shumaker
Mental Health Counseling Program
Suffolk University
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
This book is borne out of my strong belief in the power of existential therapy
to help adolescents navigate the perils of a frequently challenging period of
development in human lifespans. Kirk Schneider’s (2008) Existential-
Integrative Therapy approach seems particularly well suited to provide thera-
pists a solid grounding from which to embark on the wonderful pursuit of
trying to meet their adolescent clients on a much deeper level. Dr. Schneider,
Dr. Shawn Rubin, and many other members of APA Division 32 Society for
Humanistic Psychology have been most gracious in their support of my
specific interest in working with adolescents from an EI perspective and
this book is a logical outgrowth of their guidance and encouragement. By
no means, however, is this book intended to be the final say on how clinicians
can most effectively work with clients from this framework. The hope is that
it serves as a catalyst for clinicians and researchers to more deeply consider the
potential for EI applications to be utilized with this age group. Further, any
misinterpretations, oversimplifications, or omissions in the depiction of EI
and existential theory are solely mine and hopefully will not obscure the
power that the approach has in helping adolescents.
As footnoted in the chapters where EI case examples are shared, while
based on the lives of real people, the cases depicted in the book are
composite representations of multiple client experiences where names,
gender, and other potentially identifiable aspects of the case experience
have been changed to protect client confidentiality. The dialogue that has
been cited represent actual conversations that author has had with clients
but aspects have also been altered to protect confidentiality.
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would first like to thank his graduate research assistant, Ms. Julia Grimm,
for her tireless assistance in editing this book. If not for her incredible
efforts I would still be working on this book. Her star will shine brightly in
the mental health field in years to come.
I would also like to thank the incredibly supportive staff at Palgrave-
MacMillan, including but surely not limited to Rachel Krause, Elaine Fan,
and Kyra Saniewski. If it were not for Rachel, especially, who encouraged
me to write this book, I would still be toiling in the darkness.
I would like to thank Suffolk University and the Psychology
Department for supporting my research efforts. My wonderful colleagues
and students have been a great source of inspiration.
I would also like to thank his past, present, and future clients for the
privilege of working with them and their trust. While it has been said on
multiple occasions by others much more distinguished, a therapist learns a
lot more from his or her clients than what they teach.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Tricia, and two sons, Mason and
Jonah, for their unconditional love, patience, and support in this book
writing process. You are the hearts that keep my pulse running. This book
is dedicated to them.
ix
CONTENTS
Index 267
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
xiii
CHAPTER 1
An Introduction to EI Therapy
with Adolescents
Therein lies hope for EI. While common factors research and EI are not
the same, the growing acceptance of the former bodes well for clinicians
who value integrative therapeutic approaches. A hallmark of both com-
mon factors research and EI is the emphasis on relationship stances in
therapy and the contemplation of universal aspects of the human experi-
ence that heal (e.g., hope, empathy, alliance). Instead of asking, “What are
the common factors across therapeutic modalities that seem to help?” the
operative question for an EI therapist is framed slightly differently as,
“What are the universal challenges of existence and anxieties that all
humans face regardless of demographic status or presenting concern(s)?”
EI argues that questions of meaning, mortality, responsibility, individual-
ity, and guilt confront many, if not all, individuals. While anxiety regarding
these existential questions may not be a direct contributor to a client’s
presenting concerns (though in many cases they certainly are), an aware-
ness of existential concerns and possession of skills and a knowledge base
to address these considerations as indicated in therapy would seem to be a
critical tool for all clinicians, regardless of primary therapeutic orientation.
For certain clinicians who treat adolescents frequently walk away from
these encounters feeling that their arsenal of effective change agents is
woefully lacking. EI may very well possess the key to unlocking a young
client’s more deeply rooted anxieties and facilitating a more productive
dialogue in this fascinating age group.
There are additional reasons for optimism. Integrative approaches to
counseling and therapy are receiving more research attention and general
acceptance (Norcross and Goldfried, 2005). Doctoral training programs
in counseling psychology are also showing positive attitudes toward ther-
apy integration (Lampropoulus & Dixon, 2007). Closer to home, efforts
to integrate existential therapy with other treatment approaches are
becoming more commonplace (Shahar & Schiller, 2016). Specifically,
existential therapy has been integrated with cognitive therapy (Ottens &
Hanna, 1998), CBT (Gebler & Maercker, 2014; Hickes & Mirea, 2012;
Sotskova, Carey, & Mak, 2016), multimodal approaches (Rugula &
Waldo, 1998), and narrative therapy (Richert, 1999). The similarities
between so-called third-wave CBT (e.g., mindfulness, acceptance-based
4 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO EI THERAPY WITH ADOLESCENTS
therapy) and existential therapy have been noted as well (Bunting &
Hayes, 2008; Claessens, 2010; Masterpasqua, 2016). In fact, given its
historical resistance to adopting a rigid, technique-driven conceptualiza-
tion of the therapy experience, EI may be particularly suited for seamless
integration with other practice modalities (Hoffman et al., 2015;
Schneider, 2008). As much a subtle adjustment in philosophical stance
and increased readiness on the part of the clinician to seize openings in the
therapeutic hour is what is required to infuse EI into a treatment protocol
as opposed to a radical restructuring of what occurs between client and
therapist. This spirit of open readiness forms the basis of this book. The
intended audience is not only students and clinicians who identify primar-
ily as existentialist practitioners, but also those who subscribe to other
schools of thought yet are seeking to augment their treatment approach.
In short, this book offers a road map of sorts to facilitate the effective use
of EI with adolescents struggling with a wide range of presenting
concerns.
IS IT EFFECTIVE?
Still, as noted by Hoffman and Barlow (2014), one should be hesitant to
integrate a therapy that has no demonstrated efficacy. While the field as a
whole may be expanding the range of evidence deemed acceptable indi-
cators of therapeutic efficacy, skepticism about the effectiveness of huma-
nistic therapies still pervades. Existential therapy has not been immune to
such doubt (Norcross, 1987). In recent years, however, existential thera-
pies have received more research attention, yielding promising results.
A few of these efforts are touched upon here.
Of note, Vos et al. (2015) conducted a meta-analytic analysis of 15
randomized controlled studies of existential therapy, subjecting the treat-
ment approach to a type of outcome analysis that has fueled EST research
efforts for many years. Their analysis discriminated four types of existential
therapies: (1) meaning therapies (n = 6 studies); (2) supportive-expressive
therapies (n = 5 studies); (3) experiential-existential group therapies (n = 3);
and (4) cognitive-existential therapy (n = 1). There were several limitations
to the analysis the authors note, including the fact that many of the therapies
in the study were conducted in a group format and there were significant
differences in the clinical characteristics of the therapies studied. Despite
these limitations, the authors found significant positive effects of meaning
therapies. Individuals exposed to this particular type of existential therapy
IS IT EFFECTIVE? 5
EI: AN OVERVIEW
Cooper (2003) provides arguably the most comprehensive and easily
accessible account of different existential approaches to psychotherapy.
He delineates six different schools of existential therapy. These include
the following: (1) the Daseinsanalytic Approach which calls into question
many of the basic assumptions of therapy and psychoanalysis; (2) Victor
Frankl’s Logotherapy which focuses primarily on the search for meaning;
(3) R.D. Laing’s work in developing an existential model of schizophre-
nia; (4) the British School of existential therapy (including Spinelli, 2015;
van Deurzen, 2012) that emphasizes relatedness and the dynamic unfold-
ing of each client’s being; (5) time-limited approaches to existential ther-
apy; and (6) the EH approach that places particular emphasis on clients
discovering their subjective inner experience and summoning the courage
to face the challenges of human existence. While there is considerable
overlap between these approaches there are important areas of distinction
and each have made unique contributions. Though it is beyond the scope
of this book to detail the history, similarities and differences, and implica-
tions of each approach, the present work incorporates elements of all when
considering specific therapeutic stances and techniques that can be used
with adolescents when operating from an EI framework. That being said,
EI is most closely aligned with EH approaches.
The chief aim of EI is to assist clients in articulating that which is central
and vital to their humanity and, in turn, to maximize the individual’s
EI: AN OVERVIEW 7
EI AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Chapter 3 includes a section where a developmental model of adoles-
cent existential anxiety is introduced. Our current focus therefore is
limited to a brief overview of the etiology of psychopathology from an
EI perspective. Within the EI framework psychopathology is believed
to be rooted in constrictive and expansive dread emerging in the
context of three types of trauma experiences: (1) acute trauma,
(2) chronic trauma, and (3) implicit trauma. Schneider (2008) writes,
“dread of constrictive and expansive polarities promotes dysfunction,
extremism, polarization, the degree and frequency to which is generally
proportional to the degree and frequency of one’s dread” (pg. 42). An
example of an acute trauma is when a child suffers a serious illness or
10 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO EI THERAPY WITH ADOLESCENTS
injury where the threat of nonbeing and smallness jolts the child into
compensatory efforts at expansion. Chronic trauma may occur after
repeated failed efforts on the part of the child to recover from an
acute trauma through expansion. These efforts are rebuffed by the
environment resulting in a denial and overcompensation effort of the
child that takes the form of a retreat in the opposite direction toward
smallness. The final type of trauma posited in this framework is implicit
trauma. This is an “indirect, vicariously trauma of family and care-
takers” in which a caretaker’s chronic trauma coping strategies are
modeled for the child and imparted accordingly in an implicit manner.
Quite obviously we may be seeing all three forms of this trauma playing
out in the lives of the adolescents who appear before us in therapy.
While EI argues psychopathology is rooted in trauma, it is important to
remember that individuals differ in their capacity to cope with trauma and
the support systems available to them. Regarding one’s capacity, Tillich
(1952) argues that some individuals are particularly sensitive to the uni-
versal threat of nonbeing. This observation is confirmed in clinical prac-
tice. The author receives a steady stream of referrals where younger clients
between the ages of 7 and 10 years old present in therapy with acute fears
of death and life that appear to have no obvious roots in acute and/or
chronic trauma. Their attachment formation and support systems seem
solid, perhaps reducing the likelihood of implicit trauma occurring. Here
biology, temperament, and/or cognitive development may assume an
increased role in the manifestation of neurotic levels of anxiety. This
potential is explored in greater detail in our developmental model of
adolescent existential anxiety introduced in Chapter 3.
a close friend. In more extreme cases they may decide to pursue a divorce
or career change that radically impacts his or her family’s financial status.
While the client may experience these changes positively, is it truly a
positive gain if those significant others in the client’s life do not experience
these changes as positives? While most existential therapists do not offer
opinions on these major life choices or provide answers to these hard
questions, they at least ask the client to consider them closely during this
closing phase of therapy and will challenge a client who is painting an
unrealistic representation of how matters will likely play out.
Finally, the third phase of existential therapy within Spinelli’s Structural
Framework also includes a consideration of the ending of the therapeutic
relationship. Here Spinelli argues that, above all, the critical question for a
therapist to ask at the time an ending occurs is, “What is it about a
particular ending that permits or prevents me from embracing it as appro-
priate to this particular relationship?” Spinelli notes that, while planned
therapeutic endings are the norm and often times most appropriate way to
conclude a therapy relationship, unexpected and more abrupt endings as
times may also be appropriate.
In closing, Spinelli’s three-phase model of existential therapy is
included here in an effort to provide the reader with greater insight into
the major components of most existential therapy experiences. There are
important differences among the various schools of thought that fall under
the umbrella of existential therapy, but the author believes the similarities
are greater and it is helpful to consider all schools of thought when work-
ing with adolescents. To that end, the author believes it is also helpful to
consider the work of Adams (2014), Craig (2008), and Leontiev (2015)
to further enrich one’s understanding of existential therapeutic process,
principles, and focal points. As previously stated, a common criticism of
existential therapy approaches is a lack of clarity on how it unfolds and
what it focuses on. Each of the authors considered below provide addi-
tional scaffolding and direction for clinicians who aspire to engage ado-
lescents from an EI perspective. Again, however, what is shared below are
more general existential approaches to counseling.