Existentialism and Rebt

Terror management theory (TMT) asserts that human beings have natural tendency for self-preservation if there is threat to one’s well–being (Greenberg, Solomon, & Pyszczynski, 1997). It notes that we are the cultural animals that pose self-awareness on the concept of past and future, as well as the understanding that one day we will die. We concern about our life and death but aware that it is unexpected by everything. The worse matter is that we become aware of our vulnerability and helplessness when facing death-related thoughts and ultimate demise (Pyszczynski & Greenberg, 1992). The inevitable death awareness or mortality salience provides a ground for experiencing the existential terror, which is the overwhelming concern of people’s

Existential psychotherapy is a dynamic, philosophical approach to therapy that is based on the premise that an individual’s conflict within is due to their concerns with the givens of existence (Yalom, 1980). These givens, or ultimate concerns as noted by Yalom (1980), are inescapable properties that are part of the human existence in the world: meaninglessness, freedom (and its associated responsibility), isolation, and the inevitability of death. Confrontation with these givens can result in existential anxiety (Corey, 2009).

People die everyday all over the world. In United States, people use hundreds of different words to describe death. Generally, people that grow up in the United States tend to view death as a taboo subject and are seen as a topic that should be kept behind closed doors and contracted with an individual or family. A belief system that so many individuals hold to be true has been shaped over the past century. In this culture, death has become something that is enormously feared and as a result, some people stop living their lives to his or her highest potential because of their fear of dying. The effect that death has pertains to individuals of all ages, gender and ethnicities. But unfortunately, how death is viewed it has become more and

According to Sá Pires, 2016, existential therapy is inclusive and therefore it can be adapted to the specific needs of each person. The question that the therapist should

The humanistic/existential model uses different types of therapy to reach its goals. But all of the types of therapies agree on one thing, they focus on the client and not the symptoms. The humanistic aspect focuses on acceptance and growth, and the existential aspect focuses on responsibility and freedom. The problems are looked at as the result of the inability to be able to make meaningful and self-directed choices in your life. Thus, the treatments are focused on increasing the patient’s self-awareness and self-understanding.

Existential therapists view themselves as companions; not someone who is going teach and lead the individual to change because they view therapy as a journey client and therapist go through together. Each learning from one another and each having the same room and opportunity for growth. Van Deurzen explains “these practitioners prefer description, understanding, and exploration of the client’s subjective reality, as opposed to diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis” (as cited in Cory, 2013, p. 157). Meaning therapy is one example of an existential technique that incorporates evidence-based practices. Meaning therapy equips therapists with principles that help them empower clients to face their personal struggles, seek meaning in their life, and the tools to overcome those blocks preventing them from true happiness (Wong, 2010, p. 92). Even though therapists may borrow techniques from other models it is not a technique-oriented approach which is the complete opposite of CBT; “this is an active, directive, time-limited, present-centered, psychoeducational, structured therapy” (Cory, 2013, p. 485).

Existential therapy help client face anxiety and engage in action that will create a worthy existence which will lead the clients in taking responsibility for their actions. Existential therapy addresses human pain by helping clients to understanding the pain and to find ways to alleviate the pain. I believe Existential therapeutic goal are realistic and attainable, because there are three key areas in existential therapy: freedom, meaning, and anxiety that clients can work

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy instructs the client to recognize, assess, debate, and act against and adjust modify their irrational self- defeating beliefs or dysfunctional cognitions in this manner helping the client to feel better as well as to show signs of improvement. Some of Eliss' focal builds are self-acknowledgment, mainstream humanism and starting points of passionate unsettling

Existential therapy addresses the problems in a person's life (including existential crises and drug addiction) by examining your life and the life choices you've made that have gotten you to your current situation. Existential therapy will center on several different aspects of your life, including:

Existential therapy through the eyes of Dr. Yalom is very fascinating. There is never a fixed life that each person is supposed to live. In his therapy the clients are allowed to find out for themselves what it is they need by receiving adequate questioning from Dr. Yalom. His questioning guides them down the existential path to freedom and responsibility.

A key concept of existential therapy is the relationship between freedom and responsibility. In contrast

Rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) are both widely accepted forms of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) used today. In order to examine which theory is more effective, the empirical sturdiness, breadth of clinical usefulness, and the underlying views of human beings of each therapy will be evaluated. Corey (2017) discusses Ellis’ theory of REBT, however shows very little data to back it up. REBT is said to help clients distinguish between rational and irrational thought and therefore help them achieve unconditional self-, other-, and life-acceptance (Corey, 2017) but there is no mention of studies in the text to empirically support these claims.

I was diagnosed with depression. My depression was developed do to past trauma. Without processing what I have go through I don’t believe I would have improved, that is why I believe that the humanistic-existential model is not a good model to go by. If my therapist would have just worked with me to get myself into a self-actualization state I don’t think I would have improved without working through all the past trauma. The therapy that is used in the humanistic-existential model works with the person with the mental disorder to come to an understanding that they are worth and that they are appreciated. The type of therapy that is applied in this model does not help the person process or work through the problems that they are facing with their mental disorder. I do think it’s important for a person to know that they are worthwhile and that they are appreciated, but I don’t agree with this being a form of treatment for people with a mental disorder. The humanistic-existential model is not a useless model because it helps with people accepting and loving themselves, which is very

The mention of death sparks fear and anxiety among people but there is no reason why people should fear death because it does not have any meaning to them. Epicurus (2016) claims, “Death, the most frightening of bad things, is nothing to us; since when we exist death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist”. Most people fear death because they feel that it hinders them from accomplishing some of their plans in life and the fact that they do not know what will happen to them after death. Moreover, the fear of being punished by gods after dying makes most people feel frightened when death is mentioned (Beard, 2015). However, Epicurus argues that there is no need to fear death because there is no existence after dying. Since man will not exist to experience life after death, people should not worry about their state after death, as it is not necessarily a bad one as people have been made to believe. Thus, it is imperative to illustrate why death is nothing to us.

Many people fear death, while we know that death is inevitable, most people would prefer not to think about it. Most people do not know how to manage this fear whether they are just reflecting or in the process of actively dying. Fear of death can be a huge motivational state of mind that pushes many people towards spirituality. Wink and Scott used longitudinal data, with a sample size of 155, to investigate the relation between religiousness and fear of death and dying in late adulthood (Wink & Scott, 2005). They found no linear relations between religiousness and fear of death and dying, however, it found that a constant and strong belief and a belief in a rewarding after-life did offer a buffer against death anxiety (Wink & Scott, 2005). Spiritual beliefs can help easy anxiety that is faced when thinking about and experiencing