Psychology- Counselling Techniques
Vartika27
Corey10e_PPT_ch06edited31421.pptxChapter 6
Existential Therapy
1
Copyright © 2021 Cengage
1
Last week and Gwen… What are you thoughts with respect to the Adlerian Theory?
2
Introduction
Existential therapy focuses on exploring themes such as mortality, meaning, freedom, responsibility, anxiety, and aloneness.
Existential concepts and themes have significant implications for the existentially oriented practitioner.
Clients are shaping their own lives when they realized and accepted circumstances and surrendered control.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
3
Introduction (1 of 2)
Best described as a philosophical approach that influences a counselor’s therapeutic practice.
Asks deep questions about the nature of the human being and of anxiety, despair, grief, loneliness, isolation, and anomie. Anomie, also spelled anomy, in societies or individuals, a condition of instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values or from a lack of purpose or ideals.
Deals centrally with the questions of meaning, creativity, and love.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
4
4
Angst: A Danish and German word whose meaning lies between the English words dread and anxiety. This term refers to the uncertainty in life and the role of anxiety in making decisions about how we want to live.
Anxiety: A condition that results from having to face choices without clear guidelines and without knowing what the outcome will be.
Authenticity: The process of creating, discovering, or maintaining the core deep within one’s being; the process of becoming the person one is capable of becoming.
Existential analysis (dasein analyse): The emphasis of this therapy approach is on the subjective and spiritual dimensions of human existence.
Existential anxiety: An outcome of being confronted with the four givens of existence: death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness.
Existential guilt: The result of, or the consciousness of, evading the commitment to choosing for ourselves.
5
Existential neurosis: Feelings of despair and anxiety that result from inauthentic living, a failure to make choices, and avoidance of responsibility.
Existential tradition: Seeks a balance between recognizing the limits and the tragic dimensions of human existence and the possibilities and opportunities of human life.
Existential vacuum: A condition of emptiness and hollowness that results from meaninglessness in life.
Existentialism: A philosophical movement stressing individual responsibility for creating one’s ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Freedom: An inescapable aspect of the human condition; we are the authors of our lives and therefore are responsible for our destiny and accountable for our actions.
6
“Givens of existence”: Core or universal themes in the therapeutic process: death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness.
Inauthenticity: Lacking awareness of personal responsibility and passively assuming that our existence is largely controlled by external forces.
Intersubjectivity: The fact of our interrelatedness with others and the need for us to struggle with this in a creative way.
Logotherapy: Developed by Frankl, this brand of existential therapy literally means “healing through reason.” It focuses on challenging clients to search for meaning in life.
Neurotic anxiety: A response out of proportion to the situation. It is typically out of awareness and tends to immobilize the person.
Normal anxiety: An appropriate response to an event being faced.
7
Phenomenology: A method of exploration that uses subjective human experiencing as its focus. The phenomenological approach is a part of the fabric of existentially oriented therapies, Adlerian therapy, person-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, and reality therapy.
Presence: Both a condition and goal of therapeutic change, which serves the dual functions of reconnecting people to their pain and attuning them to the opportunities to transform their pain.
Resistance: From an existential-humanistic perspective, resistance manifests as a failure to be fully present both during the therapy hour and in life.
Restricted existence: A state of functioning with a limited degree of awareness of oneself and being vague about the nature of one’s problems.
Self-awareness: The capacity for consciousness that enables us to make choices.
8
Phase 4
Following are common questions/sources of existential angst for clients:
“Why am I here?”
“What do I want from life?”
“What gives my life purpose?”
“Where is the source of meaning for me in life?”
Let’s answer and discuss these questions
Why do you think they are important to ask a client?
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
9
9
View of Human Nature
The basic dimensions of the human condition:
The capacity for self-awareness
Freedom and responsibility
The creation of an identity and establishing meaningful relationships
Search for meaning, purpose, values, and goals
Anxiety as a condition of living
Awareness of death and nonbeing
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
10
Preposition 1: ThE Capacity for Self-Awareness
The greater our awareness, the greater our possibilities for freedom
Awareness is realizing that
we are finite—time is limited.
we have the choice to act or not to act.
we choose our actions.
meaning is not automatic—we must seek it.
we are subject to loneliness, meaninglessness, emptiness, guilt, and isolation.
we are basically alone.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
11
11
Preposition 2: Freedom and Responsibility
We do not choose the circumstances into which we are born, but we create our own destiny through our choices.
Freedom implies that we are responsible for our lives, for our actions, and for our failures to take action.
Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand; assuming responsibility is a basic condition for change.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
12
12
Preposition 3: Striving for Identity and Relationship to Others (slide of 2)
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, and no substance.
Being existentially “alone” helps us to discover our authentic self.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
13
13
Preposition 3: Striving for Identity and Relationship to Rooms
Balancing aloneness and relatedness helps us develop a unique identity and live authentically in the moment.
At their best, our relationships are based on our desire for fulfillment, not based on deprivation.
Relationships based on deprivation tend to be clinging and symbiotic.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
14
14
Preposition 4: The Search for Meaning
A distinctly human characteristic is the struggle for a sense of significance and purpose in life.
Logotherapy can provide the conceptual framework for helping clients find meaning in their lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrl9XKKouos
Meaninglessness in life can lead to emptiness and hollowness; an “existential vacuum.”
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
15
15
Preposition 5: Anxiety as a Condition of Living
Yalom’s four “givens of existence” create anxiety.
Existehttps://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/irvin-yalom.htmlntial anxiety is normal—response to an event being faced, an invitation to freedom.
Neurotic anxiety, of which we typically out of awareness, is anxiety about concrete things that is out of proportion to the situation.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
16
16
Preposition 5: Anxiety as a Condition of Living
A healthy view of anxiety
Anxiety can be a stimulus for growth as we become aware of and accept our freedom; it can be a catalyst for living authentically and fully.
We can blunt our anxiety by creating the illusion that there is security in life.
The courage to live entails accepting the reality of death and the anxiety associated with uncertainty.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
17
17
Preposition 6: Awareness of Death and Nonbeing
Death gives significance to living; it is necessary to think about death if we are to think significantly about life.
Let’s do a polling activity- do you agree with the above? Yes/no?
why?
Our awareness of death is the source of zest for life and creativity.
We can turn our fear of death into a positive force when we accept the reality of our mortality.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
18
18
Therapeutic Goals
Assisting clients in moving toward authenticity and learning to recognize when they are deceiving themselves
Helping clients face anxiety and engage in action that is based on creating a worthy existence
Helping clients to reclaim and re-own their lives; teaching them to listen to what they already know about themselves
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
19
19
Therapeutic Goals
Schneider and Krug (2010) identify four aims of therapy:
To help clients become more present to themselves and others
To assist clients in identifying ways they block themselves from fuller presence
To challenge clients to assume responsibility for designing their present lives
To encourage clients to choose more expanded ways of being in their daily lives
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
20
20
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 phenomenological world.
The core of the therapeutic relationship
Respect and faith in the clients’ potential to cope
Sharing reactions with genuine concern and empathy
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
21
21
Application: Therapeutic Techniques and Procedures
Existential psychotherapy is not technique-oriented.
Techniques from other models can be used within the context of striving to understand the subjective world of the client, but they must be used in an integrated fashion.
When the deepest self of the therapist meets the deepest part of the client, the counseling process is at its best.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
22
22
Phases of Existential Therapy
Initial phase: Clients are assisted in identifying and clarifying their assumptions about the world.
Middle phase: Clients are assisted in more fully examining the source and authority of their present value system.
Final phase: Clients are assisted in translating what they have learned about themselves into action.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
23
23
Application to Group Counseling
Provides an ideal environment for therapeutic work on responsibility
Clients are responsible for their behavior in group.
Group settings provide a mirror of how clients may act in the world.
Through feedback, members learn to view themselves through another’s eyes and how their behavior affects others.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
24
24
Application to Group Counseling
Builds interpersonal skills
Creates an opportunity to relate to others in a meaningful and authentic way
Provides an opportunity to explore the paradoxes of existence
Reduces avoidance of universal existential concerns because not addressing these themes diminishes one’s engagement with life
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
25
25
Strengths From a Diversity Perspective
It does not dictate a particular way of viewing or relating to reality.
It has a focus on universality and on the human experiences that transcend the boundaries that separate cultures.
It considers the degree to which behavior is influenced by social and cultural conditioning.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
26
26
Shortcomings From a Diversity Perspective
Approach may be excessively individualistic and insensitive to social factors that cause human problems; however, this is beginning to change.
Social injustices may lead clients to feel patronized or misunderstood if the therapist too quickly conveys that they have choice in improving their lives.
Some clients may prefer more concrete direction.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
27
27
Contributions of the Existential Approach
Existentialists have contributed a new dimension to the understanding of anxiety, guilt, loneliness, and alienation.
Its emphasis on the human quality of the therapeutic relationship is a strength.
The key concepts of the existential approach can be integrated into most therapeutic schools.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
28
28
Limitations and Criticisms of Existential Approach
The individualistic focus may not fit within the world views of clients from a collectivistic culture.
Some practitioners may view existential concepts as lofty and elusive.
The focus on self-determination may not fully account for real-life limitations of those who are oppressed and have limited choices.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
29
29
Limitations and Criticisms of Existential Approach
Some clients prefer a more directive approach to counseling.
Some practitioners may lack the level of maturity, life experience, and intensive training required to be effective.
The approach does not focus on specific techniques, making treatments difficult to standardize and study empirically.
Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy - Chapter 6
30
30
Let’s explore the case of Ruth then divide into groups to answer the following:
What do you see as Gwen’s persisting difficulties that you could help her with.
Do you think the existential theories of therapy will be effective for her?
How would you construct your next therapy session with Gwen?
Let’s break into groups for 10 minutes after watching this weeks case, then come together as a group to discuss.
31
Food For Thought
RALPH: Feeling trapped in his job
Ralph is a 47-year-old father of four children, all of whom are adolescents or older. He says that he is coming to you for counseling in order to find a way to free himself from feeling trapped by meaningless work. He was referred to you by a friend, and he tells you the following at the intake session:
“I feel a need to take some action at this point in my life—I suppose you could say I’m going through a late identity crisis. By now, you’d expect that a guy of my age should know where he’s going in life, but all I know is that I feel blah. Just sorta like a zombie!”
“I attribute most of my problems to my job. I’ve worked with this department store chain for more years than I can remember. I’m the manager of a store with quite a few people under me. But now I’ve come to hate that job! There’s nothing to look forward to anymore. It’s no challenge. Part of me wants to junk the entire thing, even though I’m not that far away from retirement with a nice pension and many fringe benefits. So the conservative part of me says stay and put up with what you’ve got! Then another side of me says leave and find something else more challenging. Don’t die living for a stinking pension plan!”
“So I’m really torn whether I should stay or leave. I keep thinking of my kids. I feel I should support them and see them through college—and if I go to another job I’ll have to take a big pay cut. I feel guilty about even thinking of letting my kids down when they expect me to see them through. And then my wife tells me I should just accept that what I’m feeling is normal for my age—a midlife crisis, she calls it. She says I should get rid of foolish notions about making a job change at my age. Then there’s always the fear that I’ll get out there and make that big change and then get fired. What would I do without a job? Who would I be if I couldn’t work? I just feel as though there are heavy rocks on my shoulders weighing me down every time I think about being stuck in my job. I sure hope you’ll help me get rid of this burden and help me make a decision about what to do with this work situation.”
32
1. Based on his story, what are your impressions of Ralph? Would you like to work with him? Why or why not? Would you share with him any of your initial reactions and thoughts from the intake session? If so, what do you think you would tell him?
2. How might you work with the two sides of Ralph: the part of him that wants to stay in his job and the part that wants to leave?
3. Check what your goals might be in working with Ralph:
_____ to provide him with information about the job market
_____ to give him advice about whether he should remain in his job or look for a new career in life
_____ to encourage him to work with his feelings of “blahness” and guilt over not providing for his children
72
_____ to help him deal with his fear of changing jobs and then failing
_____ to help him look at what he would be without his work
_____ to challenge him to deal with his feelings toward his wife
4. Depending on which of the above goals you see as being most pressing, how do you think you would work differently with him?
5. Do you have any ideas about how to work with his burden of carrying heavy rocks on his shoulders?
6. What ideas do you have about helping him explore his feeling of being trapped?
33
| 17 | Existential Therapy | Chapter 6 | Take home quiz ch 5 Due by 3 18 at 11:59pm Journal 3 due by 6pm 3/22/ |
| 24 | Person Centered Therapy/Gestalt Therapy | Chapter 7/8 | Take home quiz ch 6 Due by 3 25 at 11:59pm Journal 4 assigned How do Person Centered Therapy and Gestalt differ in what situations could you consider using each therapy or both combined? |
34
Copyright © 2021 Cengage
