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Existential Therapy: Why therapy? Why existential?

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Making the decision to go to a specialist in affective, relational and mental health is not a simple choice, given the wide range of possibilities of clinical and psychotherapeutic intervention (approximately more than 400 psychotherapeutic techniques of which not all are endorsed by the International Federation of Psychology, American Psychological and Psychiatric Association) requires an exhausting search on the part of the consultant to match the therapist and approach adequate, making the experience of starting the process less encouraging and, in many cases, unpleasant and regrettable in the face of experiences resulting from malpractice therapy.

This is one of the reasons why I share this content, because within the official models and endorsed by various internationally renowned organizations, Existential Analysis is one of the newest models and approaches, but therefore not so well known, and many times, misunderstood.

Before starting, it is essential that you take this content in a specifically informative way, and take the task of consulting with the specialist that you consider convenient and that clarifies your doubts, allowing you the opportunity to know their professional and specialized work more in detail.

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Why Existential Therapy?

Existential approach therapy is an official psychotherapeutic perspective, with philosophical bases. It is considered an approach because it encompasses a diversity of views and theoretical-practical perspectives; however, this is perhaps his most complex challenge when trying to define it. I will try to define it for you in the simplest way possible.

The philosophical-existential views and perspectives have in common the philosophical work in depth, and It is characterized by paying greater attention to the experience of the human being, beyond reducing it to a clinical psychodiagnosisSince the human being is considered to be more than the sum of its parts, that is, it is not limited to its psychology and / or behavior, but is free to decide how it responds to such conditions.

Generally speaking, it deals with people who are in crisis or immediate suffering however; This is not the only reason for consultation, because when dealing with the dilemmas and tensions present in humanity, the existential-analytic approach accompanies it in various ways, considering as main the following points:

  • Bond and relationship between therapist and patient (relationality)
  • There is no greater importance in temporality (past, present, future) however, these times are focused on immediate choices and decisions in the here and now.
  • The human condition (the pleasant, the pleasant, the negative, the tragic) is the main focus.

Existential Therapy tries to illuminate the way in which each human being constructs, discovers and sustains his own existence, his destiny.

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Why is it called that?

Being an approach with support and philosophical bases, the model he uses is known as the "phenomenological method" whose main purpose is to try to capture the experience (phenomenon) of the person and thereby reveal a meaning, response or, as it is known in psychology, an insight.

This disciplinary model allows the therapist to be more receptive, flexible and more willing to capture and discover his subjective reality together with the client.

Existential therapy
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How does this type of therapy work?

It works mainly through dialogue and the experience that is revealed in it, between therapist and consultant. This can be achieved from the phenomenological, hermeneutical and dialogical method.

That is why it is a therapy that emphasizes the need to maintain the relationship between the two, take care of it, and provide honesty and empathy, although it maintains a challenging tension in the bond, recognizing its importance in the effective result of the entire process therapeutic.

This is mainly a challenge for the existential therapist, since he must realize the difficulties of not impose their own perspective, personal experience, own world and value system above those of the querent. The attempt to avoid their appearance and maintenance aims to enable, open and put on the table, those points inconsistent, incongruous or contradictory, in the way and form in which each consultant / patient regularly chooses their way to be.

At times, existential therapy can be confrontational, uncomfortable, or painful (not by the therapist's choice), as it isclairvoyance the reality as it is for each patient, without hiding aspects of it for the simple fact of avoiding intense or "unpleasant" emotions in the consultant, since these are the product of the experience and experience of his being-in-the-world and not given by the analyst.

This process is very liberating, as it facilitates the venting and in-depth exploration of the experience of the consultant without masks or incentives that minimize it, generating a most authentic and sincere experience possible.

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What makes Existential Therapy different from other approaches?

Therapy or Existential Analysis not only differs by the philosophical support it presents, but also in that, thanks to the phenomenological attitude and the dialogical disposition, its focus of attention goes beyond the traditional clinical model (Not leaving psychodiagnosis aside when the process is carried out by a health professional trained in existential therapy).

It does not try to "pathologize" the psyche and behavior of the patient, since it makes it possible to take a free and responsible for the person analyzed, allowing to assess the experience as a whole and not only the features that accompany.

This makes the existential perspective permeate the entire human experience of each client.

Furthermore, this approach makes it clear that it is not useful to try to avoid relieving symptoms immediately or with the naive goal of achieving it at the request of the client; on the contrary, unlike most approaches, the existential perspective does not fear the expression of “uncomfortable or unpleasant” symptoms such as anguish, fear, deep sadness (misnamed depression, although, if it were depression in clinical terms itself, it also leaves the doors open) or anger, which, in this perspective, are recognized for their rich endowment of meaning and potential value as responses to the context and biography of each being human.

Thus, the Existential Analysis seeks to explore the experience with the symptoms that are present, even if they are intense or even disturbing; you keep trying to get to know and discover them, rather than eliminate and avoid them at all costs.

The main purpose of Existential Therapy is the knowledge, exploration, clarification and recognition of the experience instead of just trying to explain, interpret, or try to "cure" the experiences of each person.

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Why resort to Existential Therapy?

As you may have noticed, existential therapy allows participants to know through exploration their lived experiences, but doing it in an honest, sincere and understanding way.

Through exploration in conjunction with the therapist, the consultant can see with greater clarity the different perspectives of the same experience and the meanings that are revealed from these. Both the most complex and philosophical challenges as well as the most rudimentary and everyday experiences are linked in each therapeutic process with the commitment of understanding, challenging and challenging, allowing the person the opportunity to accept and be responsible for their experience, from a more resilient and flexible attitude with which he is able to modify and design his subsequent project, with a view to the near future.

These are the phenomena for which existential consultation is a good option:

  • Anguish and anxiety
  • Fear of death or the grieving process
  • Existential emptiness / meaninglessness
  • Crisis due to illness, accidents or radical changes in your way of life
  • Loss of status, employment, financial constraints
  • Suffering
  • Fault
  • Anticipatory anxiety
  • Break in family, social and emotional ties
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Freedom and Responsibility
  • Difficulty deciding between two or more circumstances
  • Fear of life
  • Radical isolation and relational avoidance
  • Lack of creativity
  • Tragic and unavoidable situations

conclusion

Although this article has been written to be understood in a simple way, the aspects that support Existential Analysis are much more complex than what is shared here. This specialty requires years of professional study preparation, requiring that the therapist have, at least, a profession in the areas of health and philosophy, as well as a postgraduate degree in existential philosophy with a phenomenological-hermeneutical perspective.

The existential perspective is recognized worldwide as one of the most challenging, complex and novel, since its constitution is given by means of empirical research from the second half of the century XX; however, it encompasses the base of anthropological studies and even millennial knowledge that philosophy has contributed to humanity and will continue to contribute in the 21st century.

If after what you have just read, new questions and questions have arisen, how wonderful! Part of the goal has been achieved, as this is a thoughtful and philosophical invitation, being the questions the first step of the journey.

If you consider that the current situations in your life raise more questions that you do not know how to respond and you want to face this challenge, You can contact me to explore and unveil this experience together in order to discover your way of being-in-the-world.

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