Questions
How long has Existential Psychotherapy been established?
Existential Psychotherapy - or Existential Analysis - emerged, not from psychology, but from the influences of philosophy and the arts. Forms of Existential Psychotherapy began with the work of Jaspers, Binswanger, Frankl and Boss (all psychiatrists interested in existential philosophy) in the early part of the 20th century and developed in the UK through the works of R.D. Laing (1927-1989) and others. However, existential concern can be found more centrally in the teachings of Lao Tzu (c.6th-4th cent B.C.), Gautama Buddha (c.563-483 B.C.), Socrates (469-399 B.C.) and Jesus Christ to name a few. Philosophers labelled 'existential' began with Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Nietzsche (1844-1900), Unamuno (1864-1936) and Marcel (1889-1973). Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) popularised a movement known as 'existentialism' beginning in the 1940s. However, existential concern does not fall within the exclusive 'ownership' of any one group and can be seen in the self-portraits of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669); the works of Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), Francis Bacon (1909-1992) and the writings of Franz Kafka (1883-1924) and many others from the Arts, Philosophy and Theology, for example. The word 'existential' is then, a description for a depth of interest any individual can have concerning what it is to live this particular life. In keeping with its roots in resisting the simplification of human beings, Existential Psychotherapy and Analysis exists outside of the comparitively narrow psychological or clinical models of personality, cognition (thinking) and behaviour. Indeed, the term 'existential psychology' is an oxymoron for this reason, as existential concern is far wider than psychology's reduction of human beings to that which can be measured, manipulated and replicated. By contrast Existential Psychotherapy & Analysis respects and explores the multi-dimensional aspects of what it is to be a whole person living in a complex world.
How long has Existential Psychotherapy been established?
Existential Psychotherapy - or Existential Analysis - emerged, not from psychology, but from the influences of philosophy and the arts. Forms of Existential Psychotherapy began with the work of Jaspers, Binswanger, Frankl and Boss (all psychiatrists interested in existential philosophy) in the early part of the 20th century and developed in the UK through the works of R.D. Laing (1927-1989) and others. However, existential concern can be found more centrally in the teachings of Lao Tzu (c.6th-4th cent B.C.), Gautama Buddha (c.563-483 B.C.), Socrates (469-399 B.C.) and Jesus Christ to name a few. Philosophers labelled 'existential' began with Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Nietzsche (1844-1900), Unamuno (1864-1936) and Marcel (1889-1973). Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) popularised a movement known as 'existentialism' beginning in the 1940s. However, existential concern does not fall within the exclusive 'ownership' of any one group and can be seen in the self-portraits of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669); the works of Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), Francis Bacon (1909-1992) and the writings of Franz Kafka (1883-1924) and many others from the Arts, Philosophy and Theology, for example. The word 'existential' is then, a description for a depth of interest any individual can have concerning what it is to live this particular life. In keeping with its roots in resisting the simplification of human beings, Existential Psychotherapy and Analysis exists outside of the comparitively narrow psychological or clinical models of personality, cognition (thinking) and behaviour. Indeed, the term 'existential psychology' is an oxymoron for this reason, as existential concern is far wider than psychology's reduction of human beings to that which can be measured, manipulated and replicated. By contrast Existential Psychotherapy & Analysis respects and explores the multi-dimensional aspects of what it is to be a whole person living in a complex world.
Stephen Forrest
Existential Analysis, Psychotherapy & Personal Development
Existential Analysis, Psychotherapy & Personal Development
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Unfinished Man
Black Ink Monotype
Copyright © 1998 Stephen Forrest
Black Ink Monotype
Copyright © 1998 Stephen Forrest
Copyright © 2006 Stephen Forrest.
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.