Existential Psychotherapy

Question 1

Primary view that constrast’s Freud’s

Answer 1

• man has absolute freedom
• This freedom is highly valued as it is part of what distinguishes man from all other animals and makes him a human being. Part of this is also the ability of man to see himself as a self, to have consciousness, to be reflective, to question his own existence.
• The central aspect of the process appears to be the patient’s recognition and experiencing of his/ her own existence.

Question 2

This form of therapy is NOT structured; therefore, therapists are not preoccupied with

Answer 2

fee setting
therapy schedules
other formats

Question 3

Approach that seeks to

Answer 3

-deepens the understanding of the person sitting before the therapist in the psychotherapeutic setting. It manifests a sincere concern for the individual as an “immediate, existing, emerging being” (May, 1959).

Question 4

Concern for the client is manifested in

Answer 4

the contest of the individual presenting him/herself in the here and now moment of the therapeutic encounter in a therapeutic manner. In this context the patient is seen as an emerging being always developing his/her potential for growth.

Question 5

A couple of different types of existential therapy

Answer 5

• Daseinanalysis - Reflecting more of a traditional psychoanalytic form is classical existential psychotherapy, also known as existential analysis
• Brief Existential Therapy - more akin to an Adlerian format.
• Existential-Humanistic Therapy - functions at the interface of existentialism and humanistic theory and is sometimes referred to as the third force.
• Logotherapy - Focuses on the will for meaning.