Existential Psychotherapy, Stephen Forrest

Questions

What makes Existential Psychotherapy different?

As mentioned before, Existential Psychotherapy & Analysis is not a model of psychology, but originates from a quite different kind of enquiry than that conducted by psychologists. As such it takes a fairly unique stance in the psychotherapy world by rejecting psychology's reduction of the individual to that which can be measured or made to conform to logical principles.

Existential Psychotherapy & Analysis is rooted in an attitude which deliberately resists treating people as abnormal, defective, failing or lacking; recognising the passionate and irrational as central to being a genuine person. By contrast, in western society, we have gradually taken a more mechanical, technological and psychologised view of persons, rather than a humane view of the individual, especially the person who is different, troubled or marginalised. It has become commonplace to think 'if I'm not like others, then there must be something wrong with me' and to relate to unhappiness as an internal defect to be fixed. In contemporary western society many have come to adopt language that reflects a sterile, wooden, mechanical view of human beings as 'patients' or 'clients' that can be 'treated' by a medical technician ('clinician') when broken.

Existential Psychotherapy recognises that people should not be treated in the same ways we treat objects. Instead it pays special attention to our particular human identities, life history, context and unique ways of experiencing the world in order to find unique solutions that are in tune with - not in competition with - our individual human natures. It's the difference between training an artist to paint like everybody else and encouraging another to paint in her own way that best helps her express her particular view.

Many therapies reinforce the person's identity as being a "victim". Reinforcing the notion that you are a victim reinforces a sense of helplessness and vulnerability. If you feel like a victim, Existential Psychotherapy will enable you to regain your sense of value and power so that you can move out of the role of victim.

Each Existential Psychotherapist works differently, according to his or her own individuality and the unique qualities of the encounter with the other person. Existential Psychotherapy emphasises genuineness, truth and openness in relationship. This can be in stark contrast to some therapies that rely on the therapist pretending to be 'neutral' (i.e. saying or doing very little), or which medicalise problems, thoughts and behaviours. Existential Psychotherapy also considers all aspects of your particular way of experiencing the world e.g. the embodied, sexual, interpersonal, psychological, environmental, socio-political and spiritual aspects of your life. The past, present and future are given equal importance.

Individuals who are true to the spirit of existential philosophy tend to be people who have questioned what most take for granted and tend not to be conformists, viewing unthinking acceptance of the status quo as inauthentic and anti-therapeutic. They are people who are willing to be open to difficult or uncomfortable truths; to challenge falseness in everyday life and ideas of what is 'normal'; they tend to passionately value the right to be seen as more than the roles we play or the labels that can be applied to us. Existential Psychotherapists thus tend to reject labels, diagnoses or theoretical models that fail to fully recognise or respect the individual's humanity and wholeness.

Existential philosophy ultimately puts respect for our individual way of experiencing the world above any theory or diagnosis.