“Life has no meaning”, “I am hopelessly alone and will never find understanding”, “My loved ones will die one day, and this is terrible!” Such thoughts periodically visit people's heads, causing feelings of anxiety, sadness and hopelessness. Existential psychology helps to overcome such a thinking model. Her goal is to resolve personal internal conflict and restore the joy of life.
You will learn more details by taking a few minutes to read this article, but before that, a little knowledge check on the topic.
And now, in fact, let's move on to the article itself.
The essence of existential psychology
Existentialism in psychology appeared thanks to philosophy. The existential movement in psychological science appeared in the 19th century and has not lost its relevance today.
The existential approach in psychology is a direction, according to the philosophical foundations of which a person is a unique creation, the life of an individual is of scientific value because it is unique.
The central place in the existential direction of psychology is given to the individual. Important provisions of existential psychology are :
- The individual is an active entity. Its existence is of scientific interest.
- The life path of an individual is an original, unique process.
- The person is open to the world. He feels himself exactly in the place and time in which he lives.
- In his actions and actions, a person is driven by a simple need for self-realization. Throughout his life, he develops his abilities.
- The individual is independent in choosing values. The ability to make the right choice is formed in the process of education.
What it is
Today, existential psychotherapy is a direction that relieves people from suffering (both mental and physical) through understanding their own life, values, and true purpose. If at the time of its inception it was only a branch of the philosophy of existentialism, now it is an independent, fairly popular movement that shows excellent results and has proven its effectiveness and consistency over 100 years of practice.
This direction is often called existential-humanistic, since it is entirely centered on the individual and his problems. Moreover, each individual case is considered unique, unlike all others. Accordingly, the line of treatment cannot be typical or schematic. Each time, therapy methods are selected anew, built in a completely different logic and system to help a specific person.
History, representatives
Humanistic psychology - brief and clear
Attention! Researchers cannot say for sure who was the founder of the new direction in the study of personality in psychology. Existentialism in psychology is associated with the ideas of B. Medard, L. Binswanger, R. May, A. Lenglet, K. Jaspers. In Russia, representatives of existential psychologists are F.I. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy.
Throughout the 19th century, existential psychology actively developed, and narrowly focused branches were formed, one of which is logotherapy. This is a type of psychotherapy, the founder of which is considered to be V. Frankl. As an existential psychologist, V. Frankl distinguished himself by the fact that he tested all the psychotherapeutic methods and techniques of this direction on himself. Classes with him helped clients find a way out of difficult life situations and find meaning in life.
Criticism
Every coin has two sides, and the existential-humanistic direction in psychotherapy is often criticized. The most vulnerable are 4 moments.
The first is many directions and branches. Sometimes they deviate too far from the basic principles of true existential psychotherapy, merge with others, and create separate movements and schools.
The second is the lack of a clear treatment strategy. Each time, based on the situation, it changes, adapting to the client.
Third, counseling for each new client should not be based on previous experience. An existential psychotherapist has no right to draw analogies with other cases from practice.
And the last thing for which critics especially often castigate existential psychotherapy is the lack of humanism, no matter how paradoxical it may sound. The client must be willing to rethink the essence of his being through the key moments of pain that he has experienced. In practice, it turns out that not everyone is able to do this. Sometimes it ends with an exacerbation of psychotrauma.
Origin of name. The term comes from the Latin word "existentia", which translates as "existence". It reflects the essence of the direction in both philosophy and psychotherapy. To know the meaning of one’s existence is the goal of every person, which will help get rid of any problems.
Ideas of the existential approach in psychology
Positive psychology - what is it?
The main definitions in the existential approach are the search for meaning, freedom, choice, consciousness, responsibility, awareness of death. The borderline science for existentialism is philosophy, from where its main ideas are taken:
- The need and ability for continuous self-development and learning is determined by the free will of the individual;
- A person strives to know himself and his inner world;
Understanding your inner world
- A powerful resource for realizing the creative potential of an individual is the acceptance of the mortal nature of man;
- To live a full life, a person needs to formulate the purpose of his existence.
Main problems
Existential psychology has several problems that emerged during the development of science:
- Meaninglessness, the meaning of human existence. In order to develop further, a person must first have a meaning for his further existence. He becomes lost after feeling loneliness, thoughts about inevitable death, and isolation from society.
- Problems of freedom, choice, responsibility. An individual strives to get rid of the framework and prohibitions that society imposes on him, but at the same time he is frightened by the thought of their absence.
- Problems of love, loneliness, communication. Many people understand that they come into this world alone, and they will leave here alone.
- Problems with understanding the significance of life. Conflicts of consciousness arise due to the awareness of inevitable death.
Each of the problems is subject to in-depth study by researchers.
The concept of personality in existential psychology
Special psychology - what is it?
Existence is in psychology the uniqueness of a person. This approach does not limit the study of personality to the present. The present is a short moment that provides only brief information about the individual. In order for individuality to become clear, it is necessary to look into a person’s past, as well as find out his plans for the near and distant future.
Additional Information. Counseling within this approach is based on the study of the process of personal development. In other schools of psychology, character traits come to the fore in solving personal problems.
Frankl's psychotherapy
One of the most typical representatives of existential psychotherapy is Viktor Frankl. This is an Austrian psychologist, psychotherapist and neurologist. Existential psychotherapy, the methods of which are based on the teachings of Frankl, is called logotherapy. His main idea is that the main thing for a person is to find the meaning of existence and understand his life, he should strive for this. If a person does not see the meaning, his life turns into emptiness. Frankl's existential psychotherapy is based on the understanding that existence itself poses questions to a person about the meaning of existence, and not vice versa, and a person needs to answer them with actions. Existentialists believe that each of us can find meaning, regardless of gender, age, nationality or religion, or social status.
The path to meaning is individual for every person, and if he cannot find it himself, therapy comes to the rescue. But existentialists are confident that a person himself is able to do this; they call the main guide conscience, which Frankl considered “the organ of meaning,” and called the ability to find it self-transcendence. An individual can get out of a state of emptiness only by interacting with the surrounding reality; It is impossible to do this by withdrawing into yourself and focusing on your inner experiences. Frankl argued that 90% of drug addicts and alcoholics became like this due to the loss of the meaning of life and the loss of the path to it. Another option is reflection, when a person focuses on himself, trying to find happiness in this; this is also a false path. Logotherapy developed by Frankl is based on counteraction to reflection - dereflection, as well as paradoxical intention.
Methods and techniques of the existential approach
The existential direction in psychology can be considered scientific because it has its own object, subject, research methods and specific methods of work.
Attention! All methods and psychotherapeutic techniques of this approach are authentic. The psychologist does not just let the client talk, he becomes a mentor for him. The basis of cooperation between a specialist and a client is personal participation and interest.
For the psychotherapeutic process to be effective, the specialist needs to establish a trusting relationship with the client. This takes the counseling process to a new level: the client acknowledges his problems. According to the principles of the existential approach, the way out of the vacuum begins at the moment when a person realizes where he made a mistake, what he did wrong. The accumulated experience helps you set a goal and think through the way to achieve it.
The most common methods of work of existential psychologists are:
- “Value of Time” technique. Through an open dialogue with the client, the psychotherapist teaches him to value time and use it rationally.
The value of time
- Methodology for identifying ways to evade responsibility. It is based on the analysis of habitual stereotypes of individual behavior. The psychologist teaches the client to take responsibility for his own failures and bad mood. As a result of psychotherapeutic work, the client’s relationships with relatives and colleagues are normalized.
- Technique “Working with personality protection mechanisms.” It is aimed at transforming inadequate personal defense mechanisms into rational ways of achieving goals.
- The technique of working with dreams allows us to identify a person’s phobias and intrapersonal conflicts.
- The “Fragility” technique helps to understand the patient’s anxiety for his life and health through the client’s description of the signs of the disease. This method of work allows a person to calmly accept the fact that upon reaching adulthood, the aging process of the body begins.
- The Reality Facing technique is designed to change the client's attitude towards unpleasant events in his life. A psychologist helps a person identify those areas of life that can be changed. At the same time, he shows that there are aspects of life that people cannot influence.
- Methods of working with feelings of guilt. Mistakes and failures reduce a person's self-confidence. Low self-esteem gives rise to a feeling of guilt, which inhibits the process of personal development. Corrective work is carried out in a group using parables and training exercises.
- “Decision Making” technique. It is used when working with people who lack self-confidence. The psychologist teaches the client to think through several options for the development of the situation and choose the optimal one.
- The Problem Redefinition technique is based on deepening a person's understanding of a problem by repeatedly explaining it in different phrases and formulations. As a result, the client himself produces a comprehensive vision of the problem and finds ways to solve it.
Attention! Depending on the client’s request and the problems identified, the psychotherapist chooses certain methods of work. The form of correctional therapy can be either group or individual.
The existential approach in psychology does not lose its relevance, since finding a life goal and the meaning of activity is extremely important for any person. Working with a psychotherapist within the framework of this approach helps the client overcome the fear of death, learn to appreciate life and notice the beauty in it.
The value of life
Goals of therapy
Existential psychotherapy aims to direct a person’s thoughts in the right direction, help to understand life, understand its importance and all the opportunities provided. The therapy does not involve changing the patient's personality. All attention is directed precisely to life itself, to rethinking certain events. This makes it possible to take a fresh look at reality, without illusions and speculation, and make plans for the future and define goals. Existential psychotherapy determines the meaning of life in everyday worries, responsibility for one’s own life and freedom of choice. The ultimate goal is to make it harmonious by creating a new view of existence. We can say that therapy helps you understand life, teaches you to confront problems, find ways to solve them, explores all the possibilities for improving your existence and encourages action. Patients are not perceived as sick people, but as those who do not know how to rationally use their capabilities, and who are tired of life. If a person is confused in life and his thoughts, it is a big mistake to treat him as if he were sick. This is what representatives of existential psychotherapy think. You cannot treat him as a helpless person, you just need to help him rethink what is happening around him and choose the right path along which he will go into the future meaningfully and with a specific purpose. The goal is not to change the personality, but after undergoing therapy, a person may understand that he needs to change something in order to improve his life, that now he is not living the way he wants, because decisive action is needed. Existential psychotherapy is an opportunity to gain knowledge and freedom, strength, patience. It teaches you not to close yourself off from reality, not to hide from problems, but to study and feel life through suffering, experiences, disappointments, but to perceive them adequately.
Existentialism is...
The bias towards the tragedy of human existence makes existentialism a “philosophy of despair.” This is one of the most popular movements in Western philosophy of the 20th century.
The polyphony of existentialists is extremely heterogeneous and diverse, but all are united by an interest in the main themes - human existence, freedom, choice, death, the meaning of life.
Existentialism formed as a separate philosophical movement before the First World War and existed until the mid-1960s, going through all the disasters of the 20th century.
But the origins of this philosophy must be sought in the 19th century - in the works of F. M. Dostoevsky, the ideas of F. Nietzsche, the teachings of the Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard, who is called the founder of existentialism.
*Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)
It was Kierkegaard who derived the concept of existence, which became the central category of existential philosophy.
For the first time in the history of philosophy, the Dane poses the question bluntly - why, in fact, philosophers are concerned with anything - the essence of being, the primacy of matter, God, the knowability of the world, universals, will and other vague concepts - but turn their nose up at the pressing problems of the common man with his experiences, problems, fears?
It is not surprising that existential questions are often heard in works of fiction. Perhaps this philosophical direction is reflected in literary creativity like no other.
F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Rainer Maria Rilke, Alberto Moravia - this is not a complete list of writers who raise existential themes in their works.
*Albert Camus about life
Most people live in conditions of inauthentic existence; they go with the flow, without thinking why and where. “Be like everyone else” is the motto of such a life.
Thus, the goal of human life is existence, finding oneself. Existential truth is not something that is known, but something that is experienced by each person individually.
Awareness of death
There is a belief that people who have experienced clinical death or serious illness value their lives more deeply and achieve a lot. Realizing the inevitable finitude of existence, death, existential psychotherapy forces you to rethink your attitude towards the entire world around you, to perceive reality in a different light. Usually a person does not constantly think about death, but when faced with a serious illness, he may behave inappropriately. For example, close himself off from others, withdraw into himself, or begin to take revenge on all the healthy people around him. The psychologist’s work using this method should lead to the client’s acceptance of the disease as an opportunity for personal growth. For a prepared person, the proximity of death leads to a reassessment of values and concentration on the present moment. He opens up to other people, his family and friends are no exception: relationships become close and sincere.
Existential psychotherapy, whose death awareness techniques may seem gloomy to some, actually helps many people overcome the difficulties that have happened to them with dignity.
Notes
- May R.
Origin of existential psychology // Existential psychology.
Existence / Transl. from English M. Zanadvorova, Y. Ovchinnikova. - M.: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 11. May R.
Origins of the existential direction in psychology and its significance // Existential psychology. Existence / Transl. from English M. Zanadvorova, Y. Ovchinnikova. - M.: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 106. - ↑ May R.
Origins of the existential direction in psychology and its significance // Existential psychology. Existence / Transl. from English M. Zanadvorova, Y. Ovchinnikova. - M.: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 106. - May R.
Origins of the existential direction in psychology and its significance // Existential psychology. Existence / Transl. from English M. Zanadvorova, Y. Ovchinnikova. - M.: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 111. - Lifintseva T. P.
Philosophy of dialogue by Martin Buber - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 137-143. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 145-148. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 149. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 157. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 159. - May R.
The contribution of existential psychotherapy // Existential psychology. Existence / Transl. from English M. Zanadvorova, Y. Ovchinnikova. - M.: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 177-183. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 61. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 64-65. - May R.
The contribution of existential psychotherapy // Existential psychology. Existence / Transl. from English M. Zanadvorova, Y. Ovchinnikova. - M.: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 141. - May R.
The contribution of existential psychotherapy // Existential psychology. Existence / Transl. from English M. Zanadvorova, Y. Ovchinnikova. - M.: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 162. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 107-109. - May R.
Origin of existential psychology // Existential psychology. Existence / Transl. from English M. Zanadvorova, Y. Ovchinnikova. - M.: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 34. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 123. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 124-127. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 127, 129-132. - May R.
Discovery of Genesis. - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2004. - P. 130.
