Existential therapy
Existential psychotherapy is partly based
on the existential belief that human beings
are alone in the world. This feeling of alone-
ness leads to feelings of meaninglessness
which can be overcome only by creating
one’s own values and meanings. Existential
psychotherapy suggests that in making our
own choices we assume full responsibility for
the results and blame no one but ourselves if
the result is less than what was desired. The
psychotherapist helps his or her patients/cli-
ents along this path: to discover why the pa-
tient/client is overburdened by the anxieties
of aloneness and meaninglessness, to find
new and better ways to manage these anxiet-
ies, to make new and healthy choices, and to
emerge from therapy as a free and sound hu-
man being.
Background
The philosophers who are especially pertin-
ent to the development of existential psycho-
therapy are those whose work is directly
aimed at making sense of human existence.
But the philosophical movements that are of
most importance and that have been directly
responsible for the generation of existential
therapy are phenomenology and existential
philosophy.
The starting point of existential philosophy
(see Warnock, 1970; Macquarrie, 1972;
Mace, 1999; Van Deurzen and Kenward,
2005) can be traced back to the last century
and the work of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.
Both were in conflict with the predominant
ideologies of their time and committed to the
exploration of reality as it can be experienced
in a passionate and personal manner.
Kierkegaard (1813–55) protested vigor-
ously against popular misunderstanding and
abuse of Christian dogma and the so-called
’objectivity’ of science (Kierkegaard, 1841,
1844). He thought that both were ways of
avoiding the anxiety inherent in human exist-
ence. He had great contempt for the way in
which life was being lived by those around
him and believed that truth could ultimately
only be discovered subjectively by the indi-
vidual in action. What was most lacking was
people’s courage to take the leap o