" When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves."
-- Viktor Frankl
                
            " Depression is the inability to construct a future."
             -- Rollo May
                           
                     " When people don't have any curiosity about themselves, that is always a bad sign."
                         -- Irvin Yalom

Existential Therapy

Basic Principles

The seedling principles of existential psychology can be traced back to the philosophical posturings of Aristotle, Socrates, ancient Greek thinkers, ancient Asian philosophers, and many others who pondered the the idea of human existence and the meaning of life.

Today, Eastern practices such as Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism are beginning to influence existential psychology. Central elements to both eastern and western traditions involve concepts important to the human condition, such as; awareness, impermanence, and experience of aloneness. 

All of this brings us to the very core of Existential Psychotherapy... an endeavor to answer personal and collective questions like; what is the meaning of life and death? How can I help my fellow man? How do I balance happiness and sadness, good and bad, or freedom and responsibility? Many people struggle to ask these questions, and struggle even harder to come to terms with the answers.

Theoretical concepts:

Existential therapy focuses less on the actual treatment process, and more on the exploration of the universal issues that humans deal with in life. In the world of existentialism, life has no inherent meaning and is consistently full of challenges. A major goal for clinicians is to help clients confront these challenges so that emotional development does not become blocked. Typically there are four universal concerns for the human condition which are at the root of emotional disturbances.

UNIVERSAL ISSUES of the HUMAN CONDITION:

• Inevitability of death: for many people death is a daunting and frightening concept to consider, especially when it comes to their own death. The ever-present fear of of our unavoidable demise can cause a great deal of cognitive and emotional stress for some individuals.    
  

   

•  Isolation: In a typical day, people usually encounter many other people at work, school, or the community. Many of us are surrounded by friends and family, however we are still alone. Nobody can truly understand what we sense, think, and feel as deeply as we do ourselves so even though we may be surrounded by others, some may become more aware of how alone they are due to a lack of connection with the people around us.  

• Meaninglessness: For many people, life may lack meaning or seem all-together meaningless, and feel as though nothing is certain aside from death. Life can seem like a random series of events in the chaos of the world, this can lead people to question why they are even here in the first place. Lack of meaning can lead to intense feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, despair, and sadness.  
  

• This is a problem that many people deal with in the modern age. Unfortunately with the multitude of choices we have at our disposal, comes a multitude of tough decisions. The weight of how each decision will affect our existence can become very oppressive for some and is something that can be quite hard for people to handle. 
  

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Source: 
Seligman, L., & Reichenberg, L. (2014). Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy (4th ed., pp. 40-110). Pearson Publishing.