Logotherapy Paper

Based on my past experience and a review of this week’s reading, I believe the theories that best fit with my personal philosophies are the Person-centered therapy and Existential therapy. As Experiential and Relationship-Oriented Therapies, these theories share some key concepts that really fit with how I see my role in the therapeutic relationship and what I believe about personal power and change.

Existential therapy would focus on each person as a unique individual as well as their decisions that have shaped their lives. Responsibility would be patient to would take responsibility for their decisions to create the present and future they desired. The existentialists’ is more attentive to internal details that will help the client to find philosophical meaning despite bouts of anxiety, opt to reason and act genuinely and mindfully despite life’s four guarantees, or “givens” of freedom (of choice), isolation, meaninglessness and, ultimately death. (Yalom, 1980). Only through authentic living, free will, and accepting responsibility will humanity be able to draw motivation from these existential conditions. Assuming the belief that people's problems come not exercising to the full extent one’s judgment or free will--or well enough--to forge meaning in their lives and that each of us has the responsibility for making meaning out of life. Outside forces, however, may underwrite "the individual's limited ability to exercise choice and live a meaningful life. "

Logotherapy is underpinned by the humanistic paradigm, as its key concepts recognise human individuality and freedom, as well as their need to fulfil their potential and find meaning. To understand the connection between humanism and logotherapy, it is important to first take a look at what humanism is, and how it came about. Various aspects of humanism will then be analysed in relation to logotherapy.

This document will explore the fundamental principles that confirm the importance of Frankl’s, Existential Theory and Logotherapy.

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).

What is Existential therapy? Existential therapy is a philosophical approach to therapy that focuses on the meaning of our existence and the basic premise that we are what we choose to be. It is an approach that focuses on inner conflict within a person based on the four givens (death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness). The existential tradition seeks an overall balance between limited dimensions and one’s opportunities in life. The limitations are the four givens and the possibilities are your creation of your own life. The current focus of the existential approach is on the individual’s experience of being in the world alone and facing the anxiety of this isolation, as stated in our textbook (Corey, 2016).

The two theories this paper will focus on are Existential Therapy and Solution-focused brief Therapy (SFBT), a form of postmodern therapies. This paper will try to establish how these two theories could be integrated and be used together as a therapy approach. Both theories are very subjective and focus on the client's ability to be the major force in recovery and improvement. They can also both be used to help populations such as people with substance abuse problems and people in an institutionalized setting. I choose these two theories because I believe that they would work well with the previously mentioned populations, especially for people in an institutionalized setting. While Existential therapy might serve as a foundation, SFBT can

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

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.

Existential psychotherapy is best described as a philosophical approach that influences a therapist’s practice. Logotherapy is derived form two Greek words, the first of which is Logos. The general meaning of this word is “a word, a saying, a statement; reason, the mental faculty of thinking, calculation.” The second word is therapeia (which is form therapeuo), meaning “service rendered by one to another;” specifically, “medical service, curing, healing. . .” In essence logotherapy is healing through meaning, or therapy through meaning. Frankl

This paper investigates the relationship between fundamental conceptions and considerations of several major theories that personally resonate with me. Included in these resonating theories, I will discuss how Existential Psychotherapy, Person Centered Therapy (PCT), Gestalt, and Cognitive- Behavior therapy (CBT) can be equally supplemental when respected as harmonizing functions in a more comprehensive integrative therapeutic methodology. Through research, classes, and life experience I have developed a viewpoint that fits my personality and personal style. It can be reasoned that existential therapy, defined as a phenomenological philosophy of humanness answers the more profound questions of meaning, fits well with PCT that centers itself

Jennifer, the client, is a 40-year old single, educated professional female, never married and without children, experiencing generalized anxiety, depression and feelings of meaninglessness in her life. This scenario involves working with Jennifer utilizing Existential therapy in counseling to: (a) examine her current level of self awareness, (b) understand feelings about her own mortality, (c) observe her understanding of existential anxiety, and (d) see how it can motivate her to become more aware of our basic human characteristics of freedom and responsibility. As her counselor utilizing the existential approach, I will be open and honest about my own feelings and experiences similar to those she is experiencing now.

I have chosen to use Existential theory when analyzing Antonio’s case for several reasons. Existential theory is focused on the positive aspects of the human condition and does not dictate a specific way of viewing reality (van Deurzen, 2002a). As such it is more useful than traditional approaches when working with clients from multicultural backgrounds.

Existentialist ideas are brought into the therapeutic process as hermeneutics; the methods of interpretation of personal meanings which enable the therapist to better understand the client’s issues in living.R By working through a multiple of universal aspects of what it is to be human a client is helped to seek new ways of living.

Existential theory is only one of many different theories in psychology. This paper will work to help give the reader a better understanding of what Existential theory is, what the common factor accountability is and how the common factor accountability works within the existential theory to help a client and/or therapist gain a better understanding of the choices, thoughts, or behaviors that helped get a client into the position they are in and how holding themselves accountable to their actions, behaviors or thoughts can help them reach healthy attainable goals in their life. In this paper the reader will gain a better understanding about how existential theory looks at the whole person and how they reached the point where they needed to seek assistance in understanding themselves and how they can hold them self and how others can hold them accountable for their actions, thought, and behaviors.