not as non-directive as person-centered
Grande, T. (2019, January 9). Theories of counseling – Existential therapy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvAvc2aWup0
YOUTUBE LINK: https://youtu.be/YvAvc2aWup0
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
00:06
hello this is dr. Gandhi welcome to my
00:09
video on the theory of existential
00:12
therapy the term existential therapy
00:15
actually refers to a group of several
00:19
therapies however generally under this
00:24
theory counselors focus on human
00:29
experiences as opposed to behavioral
00:33
rules or dividing the mind into
00:37
different areas as we see in
00:40
psychoanalytic and analytic therapy so
00:43
we’ll start with the theory of
00:46
personality and in existential therapy
00:50
an important part of the theory of
00:54
personality is the idea that there is an
00:57
inner struggle between the concepts of
01:00
freedom and responsibility and that
01:04
individuals move toward resolving the
01:07
struggle there’s also a search for
01:11
meaning and purpose in life as well as a
01:15
search to identify and establish values
01:19
individuals are thought of as self-aware
01:22
and the self-awareness plays a part in
01:25
human development the formation of
01:29
identity is a key component of
01:32
development as is building productive
01:36
and meaningful relationships in
01:39
existential therapy people work to self
01:43
actualize to become fully authentic to
01:47
become a fully authentic person in the
01:49
world and generally how a person relates
01:52
to the world is a key area of emphasis
01:57
when looking at existential therapy
02:01
under this theory there are several
02:04
fears that clients will have at
02:08
different points in their lives
02:10
including the fear of isolation
02:13
meaninglessness the fear of death
02:17
the fear of lacking any meaningful
02:19
relationships the fear of having and
02:24
experiencing guilt and also the fear of
02:28
feeling empty the fear of emptiness so
02:33
as you can see from this theory of
02:34
personality existential therapy really
02:38
focuses on what it means to exist in the
02:42
world and how individuals sometimes
02:47
struggle to make sense of that existence
02:49
and to find purpose in that existence
02:52
continuing with the theory of
02:54
personality the ways of being in the
02:58
world in the theory of existential
03:01
therapy are divided into four parts and
03:05
it’s important to understand that
03:08
existential counselors believe that
03:10
individuals exist in all four of these
03:14
parts all four of these worlds
03:17
simultaneously the first world here is
03:21
the eigen welt and that’s one’s own
03:25
world
03:26
it’s an individual’s subjective inner
03:30
experience of the world next we have the
03:35
MIT welt and the MIT welt
03:37
represents relationships that only human
03:40
beings can have then we have the ohm
03:44
welt and the ohm welt is the physical
03:47
world and the objects in the physical
03:50
world so it’s the environment around an
03:54
individual including all living beings
03:56
and last we have the uber welt and the
04:02
uber welt represents spiritual beliefs
04:03
about the individual’s ideal world the
04:09
next item when looking at the theory of
04:10
personality is the concept of
04:13
existential anxiety and this is
04:16
different than what existential
04:18
counselors refer to as neurotic anxiety
04:21
and I’ll talk about those differences in
04:25
a moment
04:26
existential anxiety is considered normal
04:30
it’s to be expected and it’s also
04:33
considered in many ways to be positive
04:35
because it can lead to living a full and
04:39
authentic life individuals require
04:43
courage in order to overcome existential
04:46
anxiety but when Exxon’s existential
04:50
anxiety can be accepted by an individual
04:53
therapeutic change is possible
04:57
existential anxiety can also be avoided
05:00
at least for a short time when an
05:04
individual believes there is safety and
05:06
security and life existential counselors
05:10
do not believe in safety and security
05:14
but rather they have a view of the world
05:17
where uncertainty is a major factor that
05:22
must be accepted and acknowledged moving
05:26
on to the cause of symptoms and you can
05:30
see here under causes symptoms I have
05:33
existential anxiety that’s a cause of
05:37
clients symptoms under this theory and
05:41
neurotic anxiety and it’s important to
05:44
understand the difference between these
05:46
two types of anxiety existential
05:49
counsellors recognize both of these
05:52
types of anxiety exist but feel they
05:56
have very different characteristics so
06:00
taking a look at existential anxiety in
06:03
this theory existential anxiety is not
06:06
pathological it’s a normal part of the
06:09
human condition it’s appropriate to
06:12
situations individuals do not typically
06:17
repress existential anxiety and it cut
06:21
it can facilitate the confrontation of
06:25
what existential counselors refer to as
06:28
existential dilemmas
06:31
neurotic anxiety on the other hand is
06:35
inappropriate based on situation its
06:39
disproportional in severity as compared
06:43
to the situation it may be caused by
06:47
repressed fears and sometimes
06:52
existential issues can cause or
06:55
contribute to the development and
06:59
maintenance of neurotic anxiety so there
07:01
is a link between existential issues and
07:06
neurotic anxiety in some cases moving on
07:11
to techniques existential counselors do
07:16
not typically use traditional techniques
07:19
rather there is an emphasis on building
07:23
a genuine and empathetic relationship
07:26
with the client and in this relationship
07:30
the subjective experience about the
07:33
counselor and the client is realized
07:36
embraced and appreciated the counselor
07:40
works throughout the course of the
07:43
therapy to understand the client
07:47
experiences existential therapy is
07:51
mostly non directive and typically does
07:55
not make direct attempts to cause change
07:58
in a client existential counselors do
08:03
use self disclosure as a therapeutic
08:06
technique they model authentic behavior
08:09
and this is an important point to look
08:12
at the modeling of authentic behavior
08:15
because this necessitates that an
08:18
existential counselor has explored
08:22
existential issues including accepting
08:26
existential anxiety and moving toward
08:30
self-actualization so counselors in
08:34
existential therapy need to have
08:38
heightened self-awareness particularly
08:40
around existential issues
08:45
existential counselors note other ways
08:47
of being which is a little bit directive
08:53
but it’s not considered a direct attempt
08:55
to cause change and this pointing out to
09:00
the client that there are other ways of
09:01
being available to the client is
09:05
different than suggesting other ways of
09:08
behaving feeling or thinking
09:12
interestingly existential counselors do
09:15
recognize transference and when they
09:20
experience transference they pointed out
09:23
and make it a topic of discussion
09:28
existential counselors believe in the
09:30
concept of resistance and they believe
09:33
the resistance comes about when clients
09:37
do not take responsibility when clients
09:40
are not aware of feelings when they are
09:43
not authentic and existential counselors
09:47
will often address indirectly resistance
09:52
when they experience it in a counseling
09:56
session now let’s take a look at the
09:59
goals in existential therapy and not
10:03
surprisingly one of the goals is
10:05
authenticity and specifically a high
10:10
level of authenticity consistent with
10:13
self-actualization another goal is for
10:18
the client to find purpose and meaning
10:20
in life counselors hope to increase
10:25
awareness about the choices available to
10:28
an individual and the freedom to make
10:32
those choices there is a hope that
10:36
through the counseling process a better
10:39
understanding of the client by
10:43
themselves is achieved and also a better
10:46
understanding of client values
10:50
another goal is that clients will
10:55
develop improved communication skills
10:58
which would allow more authentic genuine
11:02
and productive relationships with other
11:04
people existential counselors help
11:08
clients to take responsibility for
11:10
decisions and help them to exhibit
11:16
greater honesty with themselves in their
11:20
own lives in their own experience moving
11:23
on to my opinion regarding existential
11:28
therapy and how we can integrate
11:31
elements of this theory into our own
11:34
counseling style before getting into
11:38
these items and discussing these items
11:40
it’s important to recognize that unlike
11:44
many of the other theories that can be
11:47
traced back to one individual one
11:52
developer of the theory there are a
11:55
number of individuals that contribute to
11:58
existential therapy and there are a
12:01
number of existential therapies there
12:04
are many versions of this theory of
12:07
existential therapy all of the items I
12:11
have pointed out here as items that can
12:14
potentially be integrated into a
12:16
counseling style are found in most if
12:21
not all of the existential therapy
12:24
versions however some might emphasize
12:28
different items more than others the
12:31
first item here is the emphasis on
12:34
finding meaning and purpose in life and
12:36
I particularly like this feature this
12:40
component of existential therapy
12:43
oftentimes clients come into counseling
12:46
sessions and to some extent or another
12:50
finding meaning and purpose in life is
12:53
something that will be discussed and
12:56
existential therapy tackles this issue
12:59
in an authentic way and it tackles it
13:02
head-on it makes it a foe
13:04
because of the therapy and this is
13:08
similar to my second item the
13:10
willingness to address profound issues
13:12
so in general not just the meaning and
13:16
purpose of life but also other profound
13:18
issues existential therapy is willing to
13:23
directly discuss these issues it does
13:26
not try to avoid profound existential
13:30
issues rather it moves directly toward
13:34
them in the counseling process the third
13:39
item I have here is authenticity and
13:42
this is a component of many theories of
13:46
counseling and in those theories of
13:49
counseling oftentimes and definitely in
13:52
the case of existential therapy the
13:55
existential counsellor is expected to be
14:01
authentic by having good self awareness
14:04
and by having directly addressed
14:08
existential issues themselves I find
14:12
this to be an important point next we
14:14
have the therapeutic alliance the
14:17
therapeutic alliance and existential
14:19
therapy is similar to the therapeutic
14:22
alliance we see in person-centered
14:24
therapy and for that matter and many of
14:27
the theories of counseling the next item
14:31
is the focus on the present but a
14:34
willingness to explore the past and
14:36
discuss the future so some theories of
14:41
counseling focus on the present really
14:45
to the exclusion of the past and the
14:47
future
14:48
they really just try to stay in the
14:50
moment in the counseling session and not
14:53
deviate and talk about the past or what
14:56
could happen the future and that can be
14:59
useful but that can also be restrictive
15:03
so I really like the way existential
15:05
therapy is willing to stay in the
15:07
present but also willing to look at how
15:11
past experiences affect the client and
15:13
the direction the client may want to
15:16
take in the future
15:17
and concerns they may have about the
15:19
future the next item here is the
15:23
appreciation and existential counseling
15:26
that’s some anxiety what they refer to
15:29
as existential anxiety is normal and
15:32
expected existential therapy does not
15:37
pathologize existential anxiety and it
15:43
allows a counselor to work with a client
15:46
with this understanding that some
15:49
anxiety will be present and that that’s
15:51
okay and the last item I have in terms
15:57
of items I like about existential
15:58
therapy is this focus on improving
16:02
communication this isn’t necessarily a
16:06
large part of many of the existential
16:08
therapies but it is a part of many and
16:12
considering how important relationships
16:14
are for many clients improving
16:18
communication has potential positive
16:22
impact in a wide variety of areas career
16:28
family friendships all these benefit
16:34
from improving communication skills and
16:37
improving the ability to authentically
16:40
communicate in terms of some of the
16:44
criticisms I have of existential therapy
16:47
and some of the areas of and items of
16:51
this theory that I do not think are
16:53
particularly useful or at least not easy
16:56
to integrate into a counseling style are
16:59
always productive to integrate into a
17:01
counseling style I think a major
17:04
criticism is really the absence of
17:07
concrete techniques there is an emphasis
17:11
on the therapeutic alliance I mentioned
17:13
that I think that’s good
17:16
however this theory is mostly non
17:20
directive and I believe that many times
17:26
non directive is productive and useful
17:30
but just as in person-centered therapy
17:34
being non-directive can also be
17:38
restrictive and sometimes frustrating
17:41
for the client existential therapy is
17:45
not as non-directive as person-centered
17:47
therapy but the idea of being
17:49
non-directive is still an important
17:52
theoretical construct in this theory so
17:59
to summarize the utility or my opinion
18:02
of the utility of existential therapy
18:05
this therapy is willing to take on
18:08
serious issues it has an emphasis on the
18:11
therapeutic alliance and authenticity
18:14
it’s willing to discuss what the client
18:16
wants to discuss it normalizes
18:21
experiences of anxiety and improves
18:24
communication but it does not have a
18:27
large number of well-developed
18:29
techniques and is mostly non directive I
18:34
hope you found this video on the theory
18:37
of existential therapy to be useful as
18:39
always if you have any questions or
18:41
concerns feel free to contact me I’ll be
18:44
happy to assist you
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