This blog follows on from my previous blog – Existential Therapy. This is how I have interpreted some vital notions connected to existential therapies.
Existential therapy is a diverse approach which is used to understand and clarify a client’s problems and possibilities for living their existence. Below are some more of the vital principles (as I see them) typically considered by existential therapists. I would like to make clear that what I have written is not exhaustive, conclusive or necessarily a general order of things.
1) A belief in the relational nature of being as a central aspect of existence [1].
This suggests two things to me. That we are always in relationship with the world, and how we relate to it is often fundamental in how we are and what we become. It is interesting to note that in therapy the relationship has been continually found to be the key to efficacy whatever the approach.
In contrast to the relational sense of existence some existential philosophers have asserted we are ultimately alone in our existence. For instance, Kierkegaard emphasised the individuality of being human, describing human existence as a solitary affair.
Wherever one falls on this spectrum the discussion of how one is relating to their world can be a fruitful enterprise in existential therapy.
2) Seeking to understand a client’s subjectively lived experience and how it is taking place within a framework of temporality (past, present and future), tensions and contradictions. [2]
For me this means the intention is to understand that human existence is full of paradoxes. The aim is to clarify a client’s life as they have lived it, support them to reflect on what has happened and allow them to determine how they would like to live in the future in line with their values.
For instance, if a client comes to see me I am not going to attempt to fit them into any theory or model. I am also not going to tell them what to do. I do hope to hold an openness to each client’s way of being-in-the-world and support them to get clarity on what is going well and what needs to be changed. I may employ an exploration of philosophy and other wisdoms as well as psychological theory to support a client’s inquiry, but I will always lean towards emphasising a client’s lived experience as key to the investigation rather than any theoretical understanding.
This leads me to another understanding that frames existential therapy.
3) A consideration and discovery of a client’s freedom and responsibility
For me this element is summed up nicely by Nietzsche’s words “Follow not me, but you”. [3]
When he said this I think he was responding to people’s attempts to pinpoint his ideas into an all-encompassing approach to life. For me, it feels like a relevant description of every individual’s existential responsibility.
An existential therapeutic perspective typically strives for the clients to take responsibility for their lives and see their very existence, their being-ness, as the source of their potential as well as an opportunity to confront their limitations.[4] This possibility of being also upholds a fluid sense that we are always becoming and not a static substance. It invites a platform from which clients might begin to take responsibility for their existence and what they value. In this movement we may begin to reveal, understand and clarify their choices and actions. This takes courage though. It takes courage to birth and live out one’s potential, especially in the face of adversity and limitation.
This links into another significant understanding or theme underpinning existential therapy: ‘being towards death’. Please also read my blog on Existential Therapy and Death Anxiety.
Susanna Petitpierre, BACP Registered, is an experienced psychotherapeutic counsellor, providing long and short term counselling. Her approach is primarily grounded in existential therapy and she works with individuals. Susanna is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice and Lewes Practice.
Further reading by Susanna Petitpierre –
Being embodied in Therapy: Feeling and listening to your body
Resources –
[1] Spinelli, E. (2007) Practising Existential Psychotherapy. The Relational world. London: Sage
[2] van Deurzen, E. (1998) Paradox and Passion in Psychotherapy: an Existential Approach to Therapy and Counselling. Chichester: Wiley.
[3] May, R., (1958) Origins of the existential movement. in Existence. (Eds: Rollo May, Ernest Angel & Henri, F Ellenberg) Rowman and Littlefield Publishers: USA. p. 31
[4] van Deurzen, E. (1998) Paradox and Passion in Psychotherapy: an Existential Approach to Therapy and Counselling. Chichester: Wiley.
“A rich tapestry of intersecting therapeutic practices, all of which orientate themselves around shard concern: human lived experience” (1)
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