THE NECESSITY OF THIS TIME: AN EXISTENTIAL-HUMANISTIC REFLECTION

Becoming an Existential-Humanistic Therapist: Narratives from the Journey, 2022

Existential-humanistic psychology recognizes that an essential part of becoming a good therapist is developing a way of being that is healing. This makes the journey to becoming an existential-humanistic therapist a personal and transforming journey. In Becoming an Existential-Humanistic Therapist, editors Julia Falk and Louis Hoffman have collected the stories of 11 influential existential-humanistic therapists, including Kirk Schneider, Lisa Xochitl Vallejos, Ed Mendelowitz, Katerina Zymnis, Mark Yang, Myrtle Heery, Nathaniel Granger, Orah Krug, Xuefu Wang, Kathleen Galvin, and Shawn Rubin. As these prominent leaders share their stories of becoming, they also consider what it means to be an existential-humanistic therapist and their vision for the future of this school of psychotherapy. Alongside these stories, HeeSun Park reviews two important research studies on becoming an existential-humanistic therapist while Falk and Hoffman highlight the central themes emerging from the narratives. Park, Falk, and Hoffman also share their own stories of becoming. The book concludes with reflective exercises for individuals considering pursing a career as an existential-humanistic counselor or therapist, as well as exercises for current therapists to reflect upon their own journey. Whether already an existential-humanistic therapist wanting to reflect upon your journey or a student considering pursuing becoming an existential-humanistic therapist, this volume is essential reading to clarify and deepen one’s journey.

The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy, 2019

This essay considers psychotherapy as creative endeavor amid multiple points along the therapeutic dialectic. It recalls both a Nietzschean adage (“self-creation, the most difficult art”) and the injunction he adapted ever-soslightly from the Greek poet Pindar: “How one becomes what one is.” The presuppositions and potentials underwriting this piece tap into bedrock existential themes of ephemerality and ultimate insignificance on one hand while holding out for possibility, some semblance of significance within the void, on the other. These ongoing tensions elicit the apprehension and novelty that inhere in genuine exchange and the fashioning of character out of fragment, chance, and hard work. “Life,” Nietzsche observed, “is only justified as an aesthetic experience.” It is this feeling for the intrinsic, albeit difficult, place of novelty (a beckoning of, and striving for, a Jamesean “more” or “ever not quite”) that serves as both touchstone and beacon in this reverie on psychotherapy and art.

The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2022

Ave, Friends, In this book review, I explore the book "Becoming an Existential-Humanistic Therapist: Narratives from the Journey" edited by Louis Hoffman and Julia Falk. I trust that you will enjoy it and the book! With Many Blessings and Joy, Marina A. Smirnova, PhD

Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy, 2019

The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy, 2019

An existential therapy handbook from those in the field, with its broad scope covering key texts, theories, practice, and research The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy is a work representing the collaboration of existential psychotherapists, teachers, and researchers. It's a book to guide readers in understanding human life better through the exploration of aspects and applications of existential therapy. The book presents the therapy as a way for clients to explore their experiences and make the most of their lives. Its contributors offer an accurate and in-depth view of the field. An introduction of existential therapy is provided, along with a summary of its historical foundations. Chapters are organized into sections that cover: daseinsanalysis; existential-phenomenonological,humanistic, and-integrative therapies; and existential group therapy. International developments in theory, practice and research are also examined.

World Handbook of Existential Therapy, 2019

A concise summary and analysis of the methods and practice of Existential-Humanistic and Existential-Integrative Therapy.

Psychiatry, 2018

2008

While existential psychotherapy is in its ascendancy, there is a lack of philosophical critiques of existential psychotherapeutic thinking. This thesis is an attempt to examine whether there is conceptual confusion embedded within this thinking and, if so, to tease out what it is. My examination has shown that contemporary existential psychotherapists are confused about what existential psychotherapy is, while on the surfac. e, they seem to be clear about what it is. While existential psychotherapy has increasingly been, integrated with other forms of ...

2009

James Bugental and Irvin Yalom, noted existential psychotherapists and educators, both emphasize a psychotherapeutic method that cultivates presence. This important yet difficult to define therapeutic method deserves greater clarification due to its role in effecting therapeutic change. The present study compared Bugental and Yalom on selected presuppositions that relate to the cultivation of presence in order to explore their influence on each man's practice of existential psychotherapy. a psychobiographical framework illuminated how their personal experiences influenced the formation of these presuppositions. The present study revealed that the different presuppositions, which Bugental and Yalom hold about existential psychotherapy, influence each therapist's theoretical understanding of the cultivation of presence, which in turn shape how each practices existential psychotherapy. although both therapists concentrate more on process than on content, Bugental usually attends to the intrapersonal processes of the client whereas Yalom often attends to the interpersonal processes. The findings of the present study help explain current research related to the significance of contextual factors in the therapeutic endeavor. The findings also highlight the importance of clarifying therapeutic presuppositions and assumptions. Finally, the findings illuminate the benefit of integrating intrapersonal and interpersonal approaches.

World Handbook of Existential Therapy, 2019

One case study among several from an Existential-Humanistic therapeutic perspective.