theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy psych422 chapter6: existential therapy
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy
Psych422
Chapter6: Existential Therapy
![Page 2: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Questions? What key concepts do you know in terms of
existential therapy? What is the meaning or purpose of your life?
What do you want from life? Where is the source of meaning for you in life?
How do you work through a sense of “no self” and feeling alone?
What are the possible reasons that people tend to blame others for their problems?
What is the positive motivation of being anxious? If you only have 30 days left, what’s your feelings?
What will you do?
![Page 3: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Question What key concepts do you know
in terms of existential therapy?
![Page 4: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Existential Therapy A Philosophical/Intellectual Approach to Therapy
View of Human Nature The capacity for self-awareness The tension between freedom & responsibility The creation of an identity & establishing meaningful
relationships The search for meaning, purpose, and values of life Accepting anxiety as a condition of living The awareness of death and nonbeing
![Page 5: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
The Capacity for Self-Awareness We can reflect and make choices because we are
capable of self-awareness. Expanding our awareness in realizing that:
We are finite - time is limited We have the potential, the choice, to act or not to act Meaning is not automatic - we must seek it We are subject to loneliness, meaninglessness,
emptiness, guilt, and isolation
![Page 6: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Question What are the possible reasons
that people tend to blame others for their problems?
![Page 7: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Freedom and Responsibility We are free to choose among alternatives We are responsible for our lives, for our action,
and for our failure to take action. Blaming others for their problems---
Recognize how they allowed others to decide for them and the price they pay
Encourage them to consider the alternative options
![Page 8: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Striving for Identity Identity is “the courage to be”
We must trust ourselves to search within and find our own answers
Our great fear is that we will discover that there is no core, no self
Struggling with our identity: Challenging clients---in what ways that they
have lost touch with they identity and letting others to design their life.
![Page 9: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Question? How do you work through a
sense of “no self” and feeling alone?
![Page 10: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Relationship to others Aloneness
We are alone---So, we must give a sense of meaning to life, decide how we will live, have a relationship with ourselves, and learn to listen to ourselves.
Relatedness We need to create a close relationship with others Challenging clients----What they get from they
relationship? How they avoid close relationship?
![Page 11: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Question What is the meaning or purpose of your
life? What do you want from life? Where is the source of meaning for you in
life?
![Page 12: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
The Search for Meaning Therapists trust is important in teaching
clients to trust their own capacity to find their way of being.
Meaninglessness in life leads to emptiness and hollowness (existential vacuum)
Finding meaning in life is a by-product of engagement, which is a commitment to creating, loving, working, and building.
![Page 13: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Question What is the positive motivation
of being anxious?
![Page 14: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Anxiety – A Condition of Living Anxiety arises from one’s strivings to survive. Existential anxiety is normal
an outcome of being confronted with the four given of existence: death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness.
Recognize existential anxiety and find ways to deal with it constructively.
Anxiety can be a stimulus for growth as we become aware of and accept our freedom
If we have the courage to face ourselves and life we may be frightened, but we will be able to change
![Page 15: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Question If you only have 30 days left,
what’s your feelings? What will you do?
![Page 16: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Awareness of Death
Death provides the motivation for us to live our lives fully and take advantage of each opportunity to do something meaningful.
![Page 17: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Therapeutic Goals To expand self-awareness To increase potential choices To help client accept the responsibility for
their choice To help the client experience authentic
existence
![Page 18: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Therapist’s Function and Role Understand the client’s subjective world Encourage clients to accept personal
responsibility When clients blame others, therapist is
likely to ask them how they contributed to their situation.
![Page 19: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Client’s Experience in Therapy They are challenged to take responsibility for
how they now choose to be, decide how they want to be different, and take actions.
Major themes in therapy sessions are anxiety, freedom and responsibility, isolation, death, and the search for meaning.
Assist client in facing life with courage, hope, and a willingness to find meaning in life.
![Page 20: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Relationship Between Therapist and Client
Therapy is a journey taken by therapist and client The person-to-person relationship is key The relationship demands that therapists be in
contact with their own world The core of the therapeutic relationship
Respect and faith in the clients’ potential to cope and discover alternative ways of being
Therapists share their reactions to clients with genuine concern and empathy as one way of deepening the therapeutic relationship.
![Page 21: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Therapeutic techniques and procedures
It is not technique-oriented The interventions are based on philosophical
views about the nature of human existence. Free for draw techniques from other orientations The use of therapist self is the core of therapy
![Page 22: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Questions Which populations is existential therapy
particularly useful?
Which issues is existential therapy particularly useful?
![Page 23: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Areas of Application Grief work, facing a significant
decision, developmental crisis, coping with failures in marriage and work, dealing with physical limitations due to age……
![Page 24: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
From a multicultural perspective Contributions
Applicable to diverse clients to search for meaning for life
Be able to examine the behavior is influenced by social and cultural factors.
Help clients to weigh the alternatives and consequences.
Change external environment and recognize how they contribute
![Page 25: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
From a multicultural perspective Limitations
Excessively individualistic Ignore social factors that cause human problems Even if clients change internally, they see little hope the
external realities of racism or discrimination will change For many cultures, it is not possible to talk about self and
self-determination apart from the context of the social network
Many clients expect a structured and problem-oriented approach instead of discussion of philosophical questions.
![Page 26: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
Summary and Evaluation Contributions
Stress self-determination accepting the personal responsibility along with freedom
View oneself as the author of one’s life Understand the value of anxiety and guilty, the
positive meaning of death, the positive aspects of being alone and choosing for oneself
Enable clients to examine how their behavior is being influenced by social and cultural conditioning.
![Page 27: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Summary and Evaluation Limitations
Lacks of a systemic principles and practice for therapy
No empirical research validation yet Limited to apply to lower-functioning clients,
clients who need directions, are concerned about meeting basic needs, and lack of verbal skills
![Page 28: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
Case 1 I find myself terrified when I am alone. I
need people around me constantly, and if I’m forced to be alone, then I run from myself by watching TV. I’d like to learn how to be alone and feel comfortable about it. What are the issues? What can you do to help this client?
![Page 29: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
Case 2 I feel like my existence does not matter to
anyone. If I were to die today, I fully believe that it wouldn’t make a difference to anyone. What are the issues? What can you do to help this client?
![Page 30: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
Case 3 I rarely feel close to another person. While
I want this closeness, I am frightened of being rejected. Instead of letting anyone get close to me, I build walls that keep them removed. What can I do to lessen my fear of being rejected? What are the issues? What can you do to help this client?
![Page 31: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy Psych422 Chapter6: Existential Therapy](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022081506/56649db35503460f94aa2acd/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
Questions Please discuss at least three questions to
ask speakers regarding the career issues in social work, private practice, counseling, and family and marriage?