Existential Therapy

Existential therapy is a powerful way of therapy for treatment of certain human conditions. It has optimism in it, that it gives consideration to human ability and potential. On the other hand, it is realistic because it is aware of human limitations. The founders of this therapy are Irvin Yalom and Rollo May.

Existential therapy can pose to be confusing, frightening or even scary to those who are not much aware of it. But, the more you learn about it, you will understand that this is not as scary as it might seem.

Life can bring pain with it. There might not be any human being alive without experiencing the pain of life. Most of us try to manage or avoid the pain we feel. The therapists are in constant struggle to identify mentally sick people from those who are normal. But, existential therapists do not bring about this difference at all. They do not think about who the normal being is, and who the one who needs treatment is. These therapists consider everyone alike.

There might be several kinds of pain that human being suffers. Thee pains occur now and then during your lifetime. Irvin Yalom coined the word existence pain, as a representation of the various pains that a person might have to attend during lifetime. Each person is different, ans so there might be changes or differences in approach to pain also. Some might experience existent pain as depression, where as some others experience frustration, anger or anxiety. Existential therapists usually make use of diagnosis to understand the problem.

 Once they are able to identify the root cause of the pain, the therapist concentrates all attention in the growing person, and no on diagnosis. Through therapy, the therapist aims at making you understand the pain you have to experience and try to alleviate this.

The treatment is discussed and determined together by the therapist and the customer. But, there are other approaches also, where the therapist determines the method of treatment to be used. Similarly, the consumer is also seen as an expert in existential therapy. This is because, the consumer is the best at experiences, and he or she will be able to understand and determine the goal or end result they want to achieve through existential therapy. In that case, the therapist acts like a guide utilizing their expertise to guide the consumers. This guidance helps to provide the proper direction which the consumers ought to take.

There are several common issues on which existential therapy normally focuses. These are issues of knowing oneself or self-awareness, issues in relationships, issues connected to things that are beyond the power, control and knowledge of human beings, dependence, freedom, responsibility; and meaning.

The path taken for treatment differs from one person to another. The way of dealing also changes based on the issue in hand. There might be variations in the methods of therapy followed by the therapists also.

Self exploration is another key issue in existential therapy. But, the method to get self exploration done might differ on a case to case basis. The process followed in treatment helps the client to bring in new and better meaning to their experiences.

In existential therapy, the client goes through various experiences. Initially, they expect the therapist to put them in an authentic relationship. This relationship forms the basis for healing and growth. So, in this relationship, where the consumer crosses the set boundaries, the therapist makes sure that there are proper limitations and boundaries with the consumer. The therapists also play the role of helping the consumer to obtain a deeper and clearing understanding of their relationships.

This is followed by processes where the consumers are provided a deeper awareness about themselves. This is developed by making the client to explore their own character, and in the presence of therapist’s guidance. Next, the therapist helps the customer to build a new way to explore and understand their own experiences.

This is followed by a session, where, the therapists provide their interpretations and understanding of the possibilities.

The consumer is next made to earn about himself, though that is not that easy or simple. The consumer will be able to do this with the help of the therapists. Because of the peculiar nature of the therapy, it might tend to be difficult to come up with a correct estimate regarding the length of treatment. The length of treatment usually varies from person to person. The minimum duration of treatment is six months to a couple of years.