Existential

Viktor Frank

(1905 - 1997)

 

Rollo May

(1909 - 1994)

 

 

Irvin Yalom

( 1931 -   )

 

Goals:

• To help people see that they are free.

• To become aware of their possibilities;

• To challenge them to know they are responsible for events that they formerly thought were happening to them.

• To identify the factors that block freedom.

 

 

Key Concepts:

• Approach is experiential and counseling rather than a theoretical model.

• Stresses core human conditions.

• Interest is on the now and what one is becoming.

• Contains a future orientation and stresses self-awareness before action.

  
  

  

  Theories:

  1. Capacity for Self-awareness

  2. Freedom and Responsibility

  3. Striving for Identity and Relationships to Others

  4. Search for Meaning

  5. Anxiety as a Condition of Living

  6. Awareness of Death & Non-being

     
     

     
     

     Other Techniques:

     • Phases of Existential Counseling

     • Clients appropriate for Existential Counseling

     • Application to Brief Therapy

     • Issues addressed are: freedom & responsibility, isolation & relationships, meaning & meaninglessness,  living & dying

                      

  

   

  Resources:

   Corey, G. (2013)..Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (9th ed.,). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

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