Existential Therapy

E.VanDeurzen-Smith is the theorist behind Existential Therapy. The main aim of Existential Therapy is to assist the client to become more personally authentic. To define this is to the client to be able to find out who they are and what they feel.

The relationship between client-counsellor is the most important factor in the existential approach. If there is a “positive encounter”, it is possible that there can be a positive outcome. The relationship should be real and genuine which allows the counsellor to focus on the quality of the relationship, rather than the techniques being used. The counsellor must show they are interested in what their client is saying to allow this positive encounter to grow. This can be verbal or non-verbal language.

Counsellors can easily hide themselves on focusing on “Transference”, if this happens, the relationship between client/counsellor can fall apart because the counsellor relates to the clients difficulties to other people.

The counsellor has to be seen as non-judgmental and accepting rather than presenting themselves as “System removers or professional helpers”. This helps the client to confront the fixed assumptions they hold within themselves, others and the world.

During the session, the counsellor must have a flexible approach to portray a therapeutic style. The client must always know their counsellors have to acknowledge that they can change within the relationship, also which the client can recognise as their continues.

An individual will go for counselling because they feel concerned about the meaning or loss of meaning in their own lives. The client has to be committed to this therapy to make it work, with the encouragement from the therapist.  Existential Therapy is not to change people but to help them accept themselves and face their problems.

The first principle of existentialism was by Jean-Paul Satre, he said, “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself” (1958-1973).

Many therapists talk about their clients as being extremely alienated to themselves and others and have no meaning in life.

Some of the basic concepts of Existential Therapy can be put together with other models, in this way problems which arise at certain times and stages in a persons life, for example, adolescence, retirement, redundancy and divorce.  It can also be used in brief therapy and in certain crisis situations, once the initial trauma phase is over.  It can be used in individual or group settings and is useful in family therapy too.

Existential concepts tend to appeal to people who are intellectual, rather than emotional concepts.  This therapy cannot be used for clients who are disturbed or mentally ill.  Clients who are interested in personal growth or great self-awareness should benefit from this therapy, but we have to remember, this therapy is not to change people but to allow them to accept themselves for who they are.

The process of this type of counselling therapy could be described as confrontational and aggressive.

The aim of therapy is…two people (counsellor and client) are working to help make one person (client) live life to the full and achieve personal authenticity.

The counsellor-client relationship is seen as one of both counsellor and client being interested in what it is to be human and to form a human-to-human relationship, mistakes, and similarities

The aim of therapy is to assist the individual Live the life that they were intended to live

This type of therapy is can be beneficial when dealing with individuals who are experiencing chronic general dissatisfaction with life, it may not be the first choice of therapy when dealing with problems such as: - Crisis addiction, depression, group, or family work.

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