Contributions of the Existential Approach

1. CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE
EXISTENTIAL APPROACH
SUBMITTED TO:
PROF. AGNES MONTALBO
RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

2. EXISTENTIAL APPROACH:
 helped bring the person back into
central focus.
-It concentrates on the central facts of
human existence: self-consciousness and our
consequent freedom.
 encourages people to live life by their
own standards and values.(van Deurzen)
-The aim of existential work is to assist
people in developing their talents in their own
personal way, helping them in being true to what
they value.

3.  its emphasis on the human quality of
the therapeutic relationship.
-This aspect lessens the chances of
dehumanizing psychotherapy by making it a
mechanical process.

4. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE INTEGRATION OF
PSYCHOTHERAPIES:
• The subjectivity of the client is a key focus in
understanding significant life changes.
• A full presence and commitment of both therapist
and client are essential to life-changing therapy.
• The main aim of therapy is to help clients
recognize the ways in which they are
constricting their awareness and action.

5. • A key focus of therapy is on how clients actually use
the opportunities in therapy for examining and
changing their lives.
• As clients become more aware of the ways in which
they define themselves and their world, they can also
see new alternatives for choice and action.
• In situations involving transference and
countertransference, therapists have an opportunity
to model taking responsibility for themselves while
inviting their clients to do the same.

6. LIMITATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF THE
EXISTENTIAL APPROACH

7. CRITICISMS:
 it lacks a systematic statement of the principles and
practices of psychotherapy.
 Some practitioners have trouble with what they
perceive as its mystical language and concepts
 And those counselors who do find themselves close
to this philosophy are often at a loss when they
attempt to apply it to practice. As we have seen,
this approach places primary emphasis on a
subjective understanding of the world of clients.

8. LIMITATIONS:
 For counselors who doubt that they can counsel
effectively without a specific set of techniques, this
approach has limitations.
 the concepts should be empirically sound, that
definitions should be operational that the hypotheses
should be testable, and that therapeutic practice should
be based on the results of research into both the
process and outcomes of counseling.

9. EXISTENTIAL APPROACH APPLIED TO THE
CASE OF STAN.