SOCP121 SN08 Lecture Existential · Existential view on Personality Reference: Schneider, KJ 2005,...

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SOCP121

Session 8

Existential Therapy

Department of Social Science


Session Aim:

This session introduces students to existential philosophy

which balances accepting common human events against

the freedom to create our circumstances.

Existential Therapy


Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, you should:

o Be able to identify the key components of existential therapies.

o Understand how emphasizing control and utilisingacceptance can result in positive wellbeing for both clients and practitioners.

Existential Therapy


Existential Philosophy

Reference: Schneider, KJ 2005, ‘Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapies’ , in AS Gurman & SB

Messer, eds., Essential Psychotherapies. New York: Guilford Press.

A number of counselling frameworks have their roots in

existential philosophy.

“Humanistic existentialism” embraces the following three

values:

1. Freedom (e.g. to know oneself)

2. Experiential reflection (e.g. to discover what one is becoming)

3. Responsibility (e.g. to act on or respond to what one is

becoming) [p.149]


Existential view on Personality



o A person’s personality can be described as the characteristics or

dispositions that influence their thoughts, behaviours, and

motivations.

o Personality is not as relevant to Existential-Humanistic therapy as

people are considered to be dynamic creatures who change with

experience

o Views human actions in the context of freedom, reflection, and

responsibility

• Freedom to behave within or outside of social norms

• Responsibility to decide how to behave

• Reflection can moderate this process


Existential Wellbeing



o Refers to freedom, reflection, and responsibility

o Lack of freedom can be due to failure

to accept responsibility and choose, or

due to lack of awareness of choice

o Awareness of freedom important

for wellbeing

Freedom

Experiential Reflection

Responsibility


Activity

Self-Awareness

o Break into two groups and debate the following:

• One group must defend the statement “ignorance is bliss”

• One group must defend the statement “ignorance is not bliss”

o After the debate take a few minutes to reflect on issues

you preferred to remain ignorant of.

• Why were you unwilling? What were the benefits?

• How might your willingness or unwillingness to be aware relate

to your effectiveness as a practitioner?

• What helped you become aware? What might help clients

become aware?


Key ConceptsCorey, G 2005, Theory and Practice of Counseling & Psychotherapy, 7th edn, Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, CA.

o Capacity for Self-Awareness• Reflection and self-knowledge

o Freedom and Responsibility• Making choices; Controlling our life; Being accountable for our choices

o Striving for Identity and Relationship to Others• Not just doing, but being; Being alone; Being together


Key Concepts cont’dCorey, G 2005, Theory and Practice of Counseling & Psychotherapy, 7th edn, Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, CA.

o The Search for Meaning• Finding meaning and living a valued life

o Anxiety as a Condition of Living• Anxiety as inevitable; Courage to face anxiety

o Awareness of Death and Nonbeing• Death as inevitable; Death as a reminder to live our lives fully and

meaningfully

9


Microskills Practice

Who Am I

o In pairs, describe who you are to your partner.

o They should use active listening skills to assist you in

telling them about yourself.

o At the end of the activity the partner should be able to

describe you from most to least important.


Activity

Personal Reflection on Meaning

o Consider the following quote:

• “Boredom does not mean we have nothing to do; it means we

cannot find meaning in what we are doing.”

o Think about your life over the past five years.

• How have you coped with boredom?

– For example, did you distract yourself (alcohol, partying,

television, etc)?

• How has your life changed? Have you grown?

• Where do you want your life to be in five years?

• How do you find meaning? What really matters to you?


Activity

Anxiety

o Break into two groups and debate the following:

• One group must defend the statement “anxiety is good”

• One group must defend the statement “anxiety is bad”

o After the debate you should take a few minutes to reflect

on what makes you anxious.

• Does anxiety help you realise what’s important? Does it help you

to grow?

• How do you like to handle anxiety? Do you like to confront it? Or

avoid it?

• How will the way you deal with anxiety affect your effectiveness

as a practitioner? How will you deal with anxious clients?


Autonomy / Control

Reference: Bohart, AC 2005, ‘Person-Centered Psychotherapy and Related Experiential Approaches’,

in AS Gurman & SB Messer, eds., Essential Psychotherapies. New York: Guilford Press.

o Self-reliance? Ability to handle things without help?

o More a sense of control and agency. The feeling that one

can meet the demands of a challenge.

o How do people feel when they lack control?

• Learned helplessness paradigm – Seligman & Maier (1967)


Victor Frankl on Choice

o "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the

men who walked through the huts comforting others,

giving away their last piece of bread. They may have

been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that

everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the

last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any

given set of circumstances - to choose one's own way.”


Victor Frankl

The following video clips provide an overview of a

number of existential therapy concepts:

Interview with Dr. Frankl

Part 1 (8 minutes 41 seconds)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EIxGrIc_6g&feature=PlayList&p=A0CB83B506D088BF&index=24

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnWETfCaBmo&feature=PlayList&p=A0CB83B506D088BF&index=25&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSSftFde5vo&feature=related


Class Activity

Choice and the Biopsychosocial Model

o First consider:

• Which of the bio-psychosocial factors do we have the most

control over? How do bio-psychosocial factors affect control?

o Then consider the impact of…

• changing beliefs (e.g. no longer Catholic, now Buddhist)

• changed well-being (e.g. loss of hearing, onset of diabetes)

• changed social influences (e.g. after joining the military)

o Finally consider:

• How did these forces help lead you to becoming a natural health

practitioner? By focusing on all of these forces you can have a

more complete view of your choices and decisions that have led

you to become you.


Existential Therapy



o Since lack of awareness of freedom

results in lower wellbeing, therapy is

aimed at raising a person’s ability to

exercise their freedom to make choices

o Challenge/inquire about perceived

limitations

o Help client realize what really

matters to them, be present

Freedom

Experiential Reflection

Responsibility


Goals of TherapyReference: Corey, G 2009, Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 8th Edn,

Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA.

o Expand self-awareness

o Increase choice potentials

o Help clients accept the responsibility of choosing

o Help the client experience authentic existence

o Help the client to recognize factors that block freedom

o Challenge clients to recognize that they are doing

something that they formerly thought was happening to

them

o Accept the freedom and responsibility that go along with

action


The Gift of Therapy

o The following short clip is an except from Irvin Yalom

talking about his book ‘The Gift of Therapy’

Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73wVVNrDI4I


Existential TherapyReference: Corey, G 2009, Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 8th Edn,

Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA.

Focuses on:

– health rather than sickness

– growth

– the client’s immediate experience

– helping clients to examine their values and

assumptions

– helping clients reconstruct values, and develop

meaning & purpose in their life

– bringing out the “aliveness” in a client (singing,

dancing, painting, etc.)


Revision Questions

o What did Victor Frankl discover about human choice?

o How much control do you and the client have over the

therapeutic process, each other, or therapeutic outcomes?

o What is the relationship between human needs and

wellbeing?

o How do I recognize areas of competence I need to

improve?

SOCP121 SN08 Lecture Existential · Existential view on Personality Reference: Schneider, KJ 2005,...

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