NSG 527 MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE
"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
Existential Psychotherapy
authentic decisions and to come to a responsible way of dealing with himself or
herself and the world around them."
◦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
· Key themes and principles of existential create their own destiny
therapy ◦ 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
Founders of existential therapy ◦Leading figures include Frankl, May and Yalom
The existential therapist and the subjective The function of the existential therapist is to understand the client's subjective world
world
The goals of existential psychotherapy center on the given themes of existence and
Anxiety in existential therapy help people face the anxieties of life, freely choose their life direction, take
responsibility for their choices, and create a meaningful existence.
◦Existential psychotherapy is centered in resolving life's existential themes.
Guilt in existential therapy ◦Dysfunction occurs when existential themes are unresolved, and people live
a meaningless life.
◦Freedom and Responsibility
◦Isolation
The "Givens" of existence (Yalom)
◦Meaninglessness
◦Death
, ◦Umwelt - the biological world, environment
◦Mitwelt - literally means "with world" is the relationship with others in society and
The three forms of the world- "being in the culture
world" (Dimensions of the World Views) - ◦Eigenwelt - "own world" self-awareness and self-relatedness. It is grasping of
Existential therapy 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 the biological world, environment
Mitwelt literally means "with world" is the relationship with others in society and culture
"own world" self-awareness and self-relatedness. It is grasping of what something in
Eigenwelt
the world personally means to the individual
A person's connection to abstract and absolute aspects of living - the ideological
Überwelt
beliefs about life, death and existence
◦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
Existential approach and philosophy
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, a German word meaning organized whole, recognizes the unity of humans
Gestalt Therapy
as integrated wholes, not divided into parts, taken out of context, or generalized
◦ The more we work at becoming who or what we are not, the more we
remain the same
Key themes and principles of gestalt ◦ Authentic change occurs more from being who we are, rather than trying to
therapy be who we are not (ex.- focusing on your inherent strengths, instead of working on
weaknesses)
◦Be here, be now
Founder of gestalt therapy ◦Founded by Fritz Perls
◦ The initial goal is for clients to expand their awareness of what they are
experiencing in the present moment
Awareness in Gestalt
◦Increased awareness is considered curative and by becoming aware, clients can
be integrated, or whole
◦ The focus of Gestalt is NOT on the why of behavior, but rather on the what
and how of behavior & the here and now
"Here and Now" (Gestalt)
◦Gestalt therapists are sensitive to how the here and now includes residues from
the past, such as body posture, habits, and beliefs
that point where we don't progress in our self-support maturity but need to continue
the manipulation of their environment (including people) to survive. This manipulation
Impasse (Gestalt)
may include playing helpless, crazy, angry, whatever it takes to get the other
support they feel they need.
Dialogue (Gestalt) ◦Inclusion, presence, commitment to dialogue, no exploitation, dialogue is lived
The goal is awareness and restoring his/her natural state of self-regulation. The
goal is not an intellectual understanding or the "why's" of one's problems, rather
Gestalt focuses on the following:
◦ Acceptance of personal responsibility and assuming ownership of
Goals of Gestalt
experiences, including accepting the consequences of one's actions
◦Move towards an increased awareness of themselves and the present moment
◦Moving on from environmental support to self-support
◦Dealing with the impasse
"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
Existential Psychotherapy
authentic decisions and to come to a responsible way of dealing with himself or
herself and the world around them."
◦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
· Key themes and principles of existential create their own destiny
therapy ◦ 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
Founders of existential therapy ◦Leading figures include Frankl, May and Yalom
The existential therapist and the subjective The function of the existential therapist is to understand the client's subjective world
world
The goals of existential psychotherapy center on the given themes of existence and
Anxiety in existential therapy help people face the anxieties of life, freely choose their life direction, take
responsibility for their choices, and create a meaningful existence.
◦Existential psychotherapy is centered in resolving life's existential themes.
Guilt in existential therapy ◦Dysfunction occurs when existential themes are unresolved, and people live
a meaningless life.
◦Freedom and Responsibility
◦Isolation
The "Givens" of existence (Yalom)
◦Meaninglessness
◦Death
, ◦Umwelt - the biological world, environment
◦Mitwelt - literally means "with world" is the relationship with others in society and
The three forms of the world- "being in the culture
world" (Dimensions of the World Views) - ◦Eigenwelt - "own world" self-awareness and self-relatedness. It is grasping of
Existential therapy 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 the biological world, environment
Mitwelt literally means "with world" is the relationship with others in society and culture
"own world" self-awareness and self-relatedness. It is grasping of what something in
Eigenwelt
the world personally means to the individual
A person's connection to abstract and absolute aspects of living - the ideological
Überwelt
beliefs about life, death and existence
◦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
Existential approach and philosophy
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, a German word meaning organized whole, recognizes the unity of humans
Gestalt Therapy
as integrated wholes, not divided into parts, taken out of context, or generalized
◦ The more we work at becoming who or what we are not, the more we
remain the same
Key themes and principles of gestalt ◦ Authentic change occurs more from being who we are, rather than trying to
therapy be who we are not (ex.- focusing on your inherent strengths, instead of working on
weaknesses)
◦Be here, be now
Founder of gestalt therapy ◦Founded by Fritz Perls
◦ The initial goal is for clients to expand their awareness of what they are
experiencing in the present moment
Awareness in Gestalt
◦Increased awareness is considered curative and by becoming aware, clients can
be integrated, or whole
◦ The focus of Gestalt is NOT on the why of behavior, but rather on the what
and how of behavior & the here and now
"Here and Now" (Gestalt)
◦Gestalt therapists are sensitive to how the here and now includes residues from
the past, such as body posture, habits, and beliefs
that point where we don't progress in our self-support maturity but need to continue
the manipulation of their environment (including people) to survive. This manipulation
Impasse (Gestalt)
may include playing helpless, crazy, angry, whatever it takes to get the other
support they feel they need.
Dialogue (Gestalt) ◦Inclusion, presence, commitment to dialogue, no exploitation, dialogue is lived
The goal is awareness and restoring his/her natural state of self-regulation. The
goal is not an intellectual understanding or the "why's" of one's problems, rather
Gestalt focuses on the following:
◦ Acceptance of personal responsibility and assuming ownership of
Goals of Gestalt
experiences, including accepting the consequences of one's actions
◦Move towards an increased awareness of themselves and the present moment
◦Moving on from environmental support to self-support
◦Dealing with the impasse
