Mere Christianity Analysis

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).

Existential therapy, as Corey describes in the text, is more of a way of thinking or an attitude about psychotherapy rather than a particular style of practicing. It focuses on exploring life themes from “mortality, meaning, freedom, responsibility, anxiety, and aloneness as they relate to a person’s current struggle” (Corey, G. (2013). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 10th Ed.). Frankl’s experience in the Nazi concentration camps was of particular interest to me as an American Jew, and as a student of human behavior, counseling and therapeutic theory. The horror of losing his parents, brother, wife, and children in the camps and the absolute dehumanization of the Jews and how it was central to existential therapy and Frankl’s development of logotherapy as his theoretical model of what it means to be “fully alive”, is central.

An Existential approach is the foundation argued in the therapist’s therapeutic orientation. In this interaction, Mike provides ideas with existential implications to which he often does in therapy. The therapist attempts to continue the theme with ideas of philosophy and philosophical readings which did not hold Mike’s interest. The intention of this sessions was to integrate an existential exercise, but the therapist did not introduce it now. It is considered to be a missed opportunity to invoke more existential thinking and exploration for Mike.

The therapist attempted to take an Existential approach with the client. The therapist aimed to make the client aware of her anxiety that she described as worry or being a

Existential psychotherapy is a dynamic approach to therapy which focuses on concerns that are rooted in the individual’s existence. Existential psychotherapy is a form of dynamic psychotherapy. The psychodynamics of an individual thus include the various unconscious and conscious forces, motives, and fears that operate within him or her. The dynamic psychotherapies are therapies based upon this dynamic model of mental functioning. Existential therapy is based on a radically different view of the specific forces, motives, and fears that interact in the individual. The precise nature of the deepest internal conflicts is never easy to identify. To identify the primary conflicts, one must use many avenues of access; deep reflection, dreams, nightmares,

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

We live in a world marked by a culture of death. the constant manifetations of ruptures with one itself as lonelines, sadness, with no sence, unstopping search of false

Before an in-depth look at how existentialism and psychoanalysis influenced Frankl, let take a look at what each of these theories mean. Existentialism became identified with a cultural movement that blossomed in Europe during the forties and fifties; this term adopted by Jean-Paul Sartre as a self-description in Sartre and his associates postwar literary and philosophical writings. “By the mid 1970s the cultural image of existentialism had become a cliché, parodized in countless books and films by Woody Allen.” (123 Help me) According one website I researched, all about philosophy states the definition of Existentialism is:

The term logotherapy is derived from a Greek word that translates as ”meaning” and therapy, which is defined as treatment of a condition, illness, or maladjustment (GoodTherapy, 2015). Logotherapy is sometimes referred to at the “Third Vienessen School of Psychotherapy”, with Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis being the first, and Alfred Adler’s individual psychology being the second. In contrast to Freud and Aldler thought, Viktor Frankl, with the emergence of logotherapy, maintained that a human’s principal motivation is not to search for power or gratification, as but to discover the

While writing a paper on existential and behavioral therapy, I found myself agreeing with concepts represented in both methods. Existential therapy is appealing because of its focus on encouraging the client to take responsibility for their actions. Viktor Frankl, a psychologist who made a considerable contribution to existential therapy, once said, “Freedom is only part of the story and half the truth …  That is why I recommend that the Statute of Liberty on the East Coast be supplanted by a Statute of Responsibility on the West Coast.” I think that it is dangerous to consider yourself a “victim” and that you aren’t accountable for your actions. I agree with the importance of understanding environmental factors and how it affects how a person processes information. Viktor

The four fundamental ‘givens’ of existence that Yalom posits within Existential therapy are: the freedom to make our lives as we will (Freedom & Responsibility), our ultimate aloneness (Isolation), the inevitability of death (Death), and absence of meaning of life (Meaninglessness). ‘Two Smiles’ presents an ongoing theme of

“Existential therapy is a process of searching for the value and meaning in life” “(Corey, p. 131) with a focus on central concerns of the person’s existence; Such as death, freedom, existential isolation and meaningless. “Existential therapy can best be described as a philosophical approach that influences a counselor’s therapeutic practice” (Corey, p. 131). Founders of Existential Therapy include Soren Kagarra, Fredrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Martin Buber. They employed the humanistic approach. The contributing

According to this therapy, since we are the author of our lives, we control the pathway we follow in life. As a human being, we are motivated and eager to create our identity, seek our purpose in life and create a meaningful lasting relationship with others. Existential therapy discusses all of these elements and adds that the importance of our existence is not indefinite, instead we are continually recreating ourselves, searching and making sense of our existence (Corey,

Existential is my underscoring theory which is grounded in philosophy. It was inspired by numerous philosophers and writers, to cite a few Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, and Yalom (Corey, 2013). The goal of existential therapy is an attitude toward human suffering, asking a profound doubt about being human, and the nature of anxiety, despair, sorrow, loneliness, isolation, anomie, and creativity, and love (Yalom & Josselson, 2011).

The central message of Christianity is simply the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is a message of love, hope and reconciliation. Jesus didn’t come to make “Christians,” Jesus came to save and love the lost.