Existential psychology is a prime example of how existentialist philosophy has found its place in psychotherapy. Existentialism posits that we all exist in a world full of contradictions and devoid of inherent meaning. The task of the individual is to continue searching for this meaning in the face of the world's absurdity. Existentialists embrace the inevitable and delve deeply into the concept of the true meaning of each person's existence.
This philosophy forms the foundation of existential psychology. It focuses on human existence and explores how individuals confront and cope with existential questions—questions of responsibility, choice, the meaning or lack of meaning in life, loneliness, and the passage of time.
Existential psychotherapy centers on finding answers to the inevitable questions of existence and filling the client's life with meaning. Through this process, the individual learns to see and understand their existence as unique and unrepeatable.
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Key Concepts of Existential Psychology
Existential psychology focuses on the internal conflicts individuals experience with the inescapable facts of existence that cannot be changed. For example, people often struggle to accept the fact of death. However, this is an undeniable reality of existence. Denying one's mortality can prevent a person from living fully, whereas acceptance can be the first step toward learning to live with this inevitability.
In existential psychotherapy, there are several approaches—from Viktor Frankl's logotherapy to Irvin Yalom's existential counseling. What unites them are a few key concepts or existential givens that clients often encounter when working toward acceptance:
Absence of Predefined Meaning
Responsibility and Freedom
Absence of Predefined Meaning
Responsibility and Freedom
- By accepting responsibility, the client sheds the role of a victim of circumstances and learns to make decisions independently.
- By accepting their mortality, they learn to value life.
- By accepting the absence of inherent meaning as a condition of existence, they actively seek and create meaning for themselves.
- By accepting the inevitability of loneliness, they learn to rely on themselves and enter into relationships with others consciously.
Avoiding these existential givens can lead to internal conflicts and difficulties in a client's life. Here's an example of such a scenario:
A person continuously engages in relationships, entering into partnerships with individuals who aren't suitable for them.
They unconsciously fill their life with others, seeking fusion with partners who push them away.
The client becomes more anxious, depressed, and experiences feelings of disappointment and a loss of meaning in life.
Such issues may be rooted in a fear of loneliness: the individual believes it's better to be in these kinds of relationships than to be alone and face their fear.
An existential psychotherapist can help identify these patterns in the client's behavior and thinking and explore the existential questions that provoke internal conflicts. The patient will be able to relieve their burden, accept these givens, and work to find new meanings considering these circumstances in their life.
Focus and Goals of Existential Psychotherapy
Existential psychology views the person as an individual rather than a collection of symptoms or deviations from clinical norms. It is a person's consciousness that makes their existence unique and meaningful, transcending biological or social roles. The existential approach pays attention to the client's experiences in the here and now, as these shape the course of their future life.
Existential psychotherapy focuses on addressing the difficulties that prevent the client from making contact with their environment and themselves. The therapy helps the individual become an active participant in their life: to experience complex emotions, make choices, and take responsibility for them.
This method also focuses on anxiety and analyzes whether the patient's anxiety is at a normal or neurotic level. The nature of anxiety was studied by Erich Fromm. Normal anxiety is almost universal as it is objective and useful in identifying real threats to the individual. It has an understandable source that can be influenced, and the anxious situation can be used to the person's advantage.
Existential psychology also deals with neurotic anxiety. This type of anxiety triggers catastrophic thinking, feelings of helplessness, and sometimes panic attacks. A person suffering from neurotic anxiety often lives with thoughts of the future and its catastrophic scenarios rather than living in the present and perceiving reality objectively. Existential therapy can help identify and manage such a state.
Logotherapy: In Search of Meaning
Regardless of the approach, existential psychology revolves around the search for meaning in life. Logotherapy is one branch of existential psychotherapy, founded by psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. As a practicing psychologist, Frankl survived the horrors of concentration camps during World War II, and he later shared his insights on how he managed to endure.
Logotherapy posits that a person’s development occurs through the pursuit of finding and understanding the meaning of life. When an individual lacks the will to live or the desire to comprehend the meaning of life, this can lead to various psychological problems, conflicts, and dependencies.
Frankl’s memoir, Man’s Search for Meaning, became a bestseller after the end of World War II, as many people found themselves in circumstances where they had lost previous meanings and were grappling with a sense of meaninglessness. Understanding what one lives for, Frankl argued, can help overcome any hardship.
Logotherapy offers several methods that can assist clients in finding meaning:
Paradoxical Intention
A symptom provokes fear, and fear exacerbates the symptom. For instance, someone may fear public speaking due to uncontrollable stuttering, which then leads to more stuttering, creating a vicious cycle. As a result, the person faces exactly what they fear most. Logotherapy suggests overcoming this fear by “fighting fire with fire”—immersing oneself in the fear and confronting it head-on. The patient may even use humor and irony to distance themselves from their symptom, thereby reducing their fear of it.
Dereflection
People often become overly focused on themselves, which can provoke neuroses and obsessive thoughts. Frankl suggested shifting one’s focus from oneself to the external world and finding self-fulfillment in it, thereby distracting oneself from excessive introspection.
Sessions with an Existential Psychotherapist: Process and Outcome
An existential psychotherapist works with the individual queries of the client and is not confined to specific techniques or exercises. The sessions are grounded in dialogue between the patient and the therapist, building a relationship based on acceptance and trust.
Through psychological counseling, the client finds answers to fundamental questions of existential psychology:
- “Why do I exist?”
- “What gives my existence value?”
- “How do I make choices and take responsibility for my life?”
- “What do I think about death, and how does it affect me now?”
Thus, the therapeutic process explores the individual’s fears, enabling them to comprehend their path and goals, manage anxiety, and accept their mortality and loneliness as inherent aspects of existence. By turning their focus inward, they can change their attitude toward the external world.
Throughout therapy, the client begins to actively experience and contemplate their life, their role, and their purpose within it, viewing themselves as the main actor in their own story. Existential psychology teaches the client to take responsibility for what they can influence, stop worrying about what they cannot change, and start taking action.
Contrary to what some might assume, existential psychology is not centered around pessimism. On the contrary, it helps people shed their illusory perceptions of the world and stop running from their fears. The individual can see the world as it truly is and begin to take an active role in their own life journey.
