Existentialism Theoretical Orientation

Existentialism: A Theoretical Orientation
Jared Smith
Nevada State College

In the mental health profession, there are many theoretical approaches available to therapists to help them in understanding their clients. These theoretical approaches, “provide a frame work for conceptualizing client problems and determining a course of action in counseling” (Erford, 2010). Existentialism is one of many theoretical orientations of the mental health profession within the human services industry available to people who seek counseling or therapy. Existentialism is part of a humanistic approach to therapy where the focus is on understanding the client through human experience instead of whatever symptoms they exhibit (Substance Abuse and
With this freedom and responsibility comes with the reality of having to live with the consequences of whatever choice was made (Erford, 2010). Existential therapy is about understanding the human experience as it encounters such things as loneliness, isolation, despair and eventually death. The psychological problems such as anxiety that stem from the human experience are viewed as the result from the inhibited ability to make authentic, meaningful, and self-directed choices about how to live (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1999). Battling the challenges of the human experience can cause unhappiness and when that happens, individuals begin asking questions regarding their existence (Jacobsen, 2007). Many clients are concerned with problems related to happiness or unhappiness and it was Carl Rogers who formulated the goal of therapy to being centered on happiness (Jacobsen, 2007). His goal is what is referred to as ‘the fully functioning person’. According to Rogers, “the fully functioning person is characterised by being in a process of change, not by have achieved a certain stable, lasting condition” (Jacobsen, 2007). For the fully functioning person to be accomplished, Jacobsen (2007)
Striving for identity requires the recognition that one cannot depend on another’s approval. That they must decide how to live there life and understand that before they can have a relationship with another person, they must first have a relationship with themselves (Corey, 2005). Clients struggling in striving for identity are challenged by the therapist to listen to themselves. Also, the therapist challenges the client to discover how they lost touch with themselves to the point that they let others govern their life for them. Through the challenges and discoveries, the client realizes that they have given their freedom to others and that the therapy process is how they will regain their freedom again (Corey, 2005). A human characteristic is the struggle with understanding the purpose and meaning in life. Feeling that life is meaningless can lead to feelings of emptiness and hollowness, a condition that Viktor Frankl calls the existential vacuum. Those who experience the existential vacuum do not keep themselves busy with a routine or work and have the task of creating their own meaning (Corey, 2005). To discover the meaning in life, clients of existential therapy need to embrace