1|Page
Wilkes University NSG 527 – Psychopathology,
Psychotherapy Theories & Advanced Clinical
Modalities
Existential Psychotherapy .....answer. .... "A phenomenological-personal
psychotherapy with the aim of enabling a person to experience his or her life
freely at the spiritual and emotional levels, to arrive at authentic decisions
and to come to a responsible way of dealing with himself or herself and the
world around them."
· Key themes and principles of existential therapy .....answer..... ◦ Choice- free
to choose
◦ Freedom- free to shape their destiny
◦ Responsibility- responsible for their own actions or inactions
◦ Awareness- through self-awareness, people can choose their actions and
create their own destiny
◦ Aloneness- part of the human condition that people enter and depart the
world alone
◦ Meaning- part of the human condition is the struggle for a sense of
meaning
◦ Anxiety- is a condition of living and is inevitable
◦ Death- the fear of death must be faced before one can truly live
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Founders of existential therapy .....answer. ....◦ Leading figures include Frankl,
May and Yalom
The existential therapist and the subjective world .....answer. ....The function
of the existential therapist is to understand the client's subjective world
Anxiety in existential therapy .....answer. .... The goals of existential
psychotherapy center on the given themes of existence and help people face
the anxieties of life, freely choose their life direction, take responsibility for
their choices, and create a meaningful existence.
Guilt in existential therapy .....answer. ... ◦ Existential psychotherapy is
centered in resolving life's existential themes.
◦ Dysfunction occurs when existential themes are unresolved, and people live
a meaningless life.
The "Givens" of existence (Yalom) .....answer. ... ◦ Freedom and Responsibility
◦ Isolation
◦ Meaninglessness
◦ Death
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The three forms of the world- "being in the world" (Dimensions of the World
Views) - Existential therapy .....answer .... ◦ Umwelt - the biological world,
environment
◦ Mitwelt - literally means "with world" is the relationship with others in
society and culture
◦ Eigenwelt - "own world" self-awareness and self-relatedness. It is grasping
of what something in the world personally means to the individual
◦ Überwelt - A person's connection to abstract and absolute aspects of living
- the ideological beliefs about life, death and existence
Umwelt .....answer..... the biological world, environment
Mitwelt .....answer. ....literally means "with world" is the relationship with
others in society and culture
Eigenwelt .....answer. ... "own world" self-awareness and self-relatedness. It is
grasping of what something in the world personally means to the individual
Überwelt .....answer .... A person's connection to abstract and absolute
aspects of living - the ideological beliefs about life, death and existence
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Existential approach and philosophy .....answer. .... ◦ Explores the here and
now without looking into the past and emphasizes a person's responsibility
for their own existence.
◦ The approach is experiential/relational and based on the philosophical
concern with what it means to be fully human.
◦ Emphasis is based on understanding the human experience and focuses on
the client rather than the symptom.
Gestalt Therapy .....answer. ... Gestalt, a German word meaning organized
whole, recognizes the unity of humans as integrated wholes, not divided into
parts, taken out of context, or generalized
Key themes and principles of gestalt therapy .....answer. .... ◦ The more we
work at becoming who or what we are not, the more we remain the same
◦ Authentic change occurs more from being who we are, rather than trying
to be who we are not (ex.- focusing on your inherent strengths, instead of
working on weaknesses)
◦ Be here, be now
Founder of gestalt therapy .....answer. .... ◦ Founded by Fritz Perls
TS
Wilkes University NSG 527 – Psychopathology,
Psychotherapy Theories & Advanced Clinical
Modalities
Existential Psychotherapy .....answer. .... "A phenomenological-personal
psychotherapy with the aim of enabling a person to experience his or her life
freely at the spiritual and emotional levels, to arrive at authentic decisions
and to come to a responsible way of dealing with himself or herself and the
world around them."
· Key themes and principles of existential therapy .....answer..... ◦ Choice- free
to choose
◦ Freedom- free to shape their destiny
◦ Responsibility- responsible for their own actions or inactions
◦ Awareness- through self-awareness, people can choose their actions and
create their own destiny
◦ Aloneness- part of the human condition that people enter and depart the
world alone
◦ Meaning- part of the human condition is the struggle for a sense of
meaning
◦ Anxiety- is a condition of living and is inevitable
◦ Death- the fear of death must be faced before one can truly live
TS
,2|Page
Founders of existential therapy .....answer. ....◦ Leading figures include Frankl,
May and Yalom
The existential therapist and the subjective world .....answer. ....The function
of the existential therapist is to understand the client's subjective world
Anxiety in existential therapy .....answer. .... The goals of existential
psychotherapy center on the given themes of existence and help people face
the anxieties of life, freely choose their life direction, take responsibility for
their choices, and create a meaningful existence.
Guilt in existential therapy .....answer. ... ◦ Existential psychotherapy is
centered in resolving life's existential themes.
◦ Dysfunction occurs when existential themes are unresolved, and people live
a meaningless life.
The "Givens" of existence (Yalom) .....answer. ... ◦ Freedom and Responsibility
◦ Isolation
◦ Meaninglessness
◦ Death
TS
,3|Page
The three forms of the world- "being in the world" (Dimensions of the World
Views) - Existential therapy .....answer .... ◦ Umwelt - the biological world,
environment
◦ Mitwelt - literally means "with world" is the relationship with others in
society and culture
◦ Eigenwelt - "own world" self-awareness and self-relatedness. It is grasping
of what something in the world personally means to the individual
◦ Überwelt - A person's connection to abstract and absolute aspects of living
- the ideological beliefs about life, death and existence
Umwelt .....answer..... the biological world, environment
Mitwelt .....answer. ....literally means "with world" is the relationship with
others in society and culture
Eigenwelt .....answer. ... "own world" self-awareness and self-relatedness. It is
grasping of what something in the world personally means to the individual
Überwelt .....answer .... A person's connection to abstract and absolute
aspects of living - the ideological beliefs about life, death and existence
TS
, 4|Page
Existential approach and philosophy .....answer. .... ◦ Explores the here and
now without looking into the past and emphasizes a person's responsibility
for their own existence.
◦ The approach is experiential/relational and based on the philosophical
concern with what it means to be fully human.
◦ Emphasis is based on understanding the human experience and focuses on
the client rather than the symptom.
Gestalt Therapy .....answer. ... Gestalt, a German word meaning organized
whole, recognizes the unity of humans as integrated wholes, not divided into
parts, taken out of context, or generalized
Key themes and principles of gestalt therapy .....answer. .... ◦ The more we
work at becoming who or what we are not, the more we remain the same
◦ Authentic change occurs more from being who we are, rather than trying
to be who we are not (ex.- focusing on your inherent strengths, instead of
working on weaknesses)
◦ Be here, be now
Founder of gestalt therapy .....answer. .... ◦ Founded by Fritz Perls
TS
