Existential Counselling and Psychotherapy

Darren Langdridge

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781446292099
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psicologia
• Subtopic: Consulenza psicoterapeutica

?Scholarly yet accessible, required reading for students of existential psychotherapy.?

Tim Le Bon is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, life coach, philosophical counsellor and author of Wise Therapy

This contemporary introduction provides a comprehensive survey of past and present existential ideas, philosophers and practice. Darren Langdridge makes existential therapy accessible through clear language, numerous case studies, chapter summaries, activities and further reading lists.

The three parts cover all the key areas taught on existential therapy courses, from the fundamental theory of - and key figures in - the approach, to its application in practice. The final section advances theory and practice by exploring contemporary cross-cutting issues in existential therapy, including the role of research, power, politics, and language.

Trainees to existential therapy will find in this book a comprehensive, practical overview of the key areas of theory and practice, while more experienced trainees and practitioners will gain insights into contemporary developments in existential therapy today.

Dr Darren Langdridge is Head of the Department of Psychology at The Open University, Honorary Professor of Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark and a UKCP accredited existential psychotherapist.

ONE Introduction

CHAPTER AIMS

This chapter aims to:

• provide an initial definition of existential counselling and psychotherapy that makes the essential elements of this particular therapeutic approach clear and understandable;
• address a number of common misconceptions about the existential perspective and in the process further help to define the core of theory and practice;
• historically and theoretically situate existential counselling and psychotherapy in relation to other forms of counselling and psychotherapy.

Existential counselling and psychotherapy can at first glance appear to be a rather mysterious or esoteric therapeutic approach. Indeed, some existential therapists themselves seem to revel in maintaining a myth that it is not desirable or even possible to define this way of working. This is, however, quite untrue. In brief, existential counselling and psychotherapy involves the application of ideas from existential and hermeneutic philosophy to counselling and psychotherapy within a phenomenological methodological framework. That is unlikely to mean much at this stage but my aim in this chapter, and indeed the book as a whole, is to flesh out that definition such that it becomes clear what is (and what is not!) existential counselling and psychotherapy. It is important to note that there are different approaches to existential therapy, and this book is designed to give you an insight into the approach that I practise and which can be located within what is increasingly called ‘the British school’. This is an approach that is both classic, in the sense of staying true to the core of existential philosophy, and also progressive, through the way in which there is engagement with contemporary developments in theory and practise. In this chapter I begin by providing more detail to this definition and in the process pointing you ahead to the ensuing chapters, which cover different aspects of this orientation, in theory and practice. Following that, I discuss a number of misconceptions about this approach. Finally, with this particular form of therapy clearly defined and distinguished from others, I move on to briefly situate the existential approach within the broader historical, cultural and disciplinary context of counselling and psychotherapy.

What is existential therapy?

I began this chapter with a very brief and rather condensed definition of existential therapy and in this section I unpack that definition so I hope you will have a much clearer understanding of what this particular approach to therapy looks like. The best place to start is with the last element of the definition and the idea that we work within ‘a phenomenological methodological framework’. Phenomenology is a philosophical tradition that started with the work of Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), who sought to radically reconceptualise the nature of philosophy itself, but more practically it also resulted in a method of inquiry which aims to ‘return to the things in their appearing’. That is, the phenomenological method is focussed on rich description of how the world appears to people rather than drawing on theories which move beyond experience itself. So when thinking psychologically we try to stay as close as possible to how things are experienced by people and attempt to understand what the world is actually like for other people, rather than fit people into our existing theories of how we operate. It is all too easy to assume that everyone experiences the world the same way but of course the reality is that we all have a unique perspective on the world, grounded in our history, our lived experience. Where people have radically different life histories (or are from different cultures) this difference is obvious and we may struggle to understand. But even when we do quite easily understand what other people mean when they tell us of their experience there are dangers in listening when we make assumptions about meanings and miss subtle but important distinctions. This may not seem to matter in everyday conversation (though even there it can have important implications) but is vital in counselling and psychotherapy, where the phenomenological heart of the existential method requires that we come as close to seeing the world from the client’s perspective as is possible. This is always an approximation, for we can never really walk in another’s shoes, but there are a number of techniques within the phenomenological method that are designed to help us understand what others mean as best we can, without prejudice or presupposition and without projecting our own understanding on to them. The next chapter provides much more detail on the phenomenological method, along with real examples of client work to help appreciate the subtle but important way that this approach works to get us close to the lived experience of others.

The phenomenological method is the foundation for all existential counselling and psychotherapy, but there is more to the existential psychotherapeutic perspective than the phenomenological method alone. The second key element, mentioned in the definition above, involves the application of ideas from existential and hermeneutic philosophy to counselling and psychotherapy. Existential counselling and psychotherapy is deeply indebted to philosophy. Indeed, some even consider it to be a philosophical approach to counselling and psychotherapy (see Deurzen and Adams, 2011) as the philosophy of phenomenology provides the method, supplemented by the philosophies of existentialism and hermeneutics in practice.

Existentialism is a school of philosophy associated with such figures as Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980). Philosophers such as these (and others too, who will be discussed in the following chapters) sought to examine the nature of existence itself. Through sustained philosophical argument they focussed attention on the nature of being (ontology) and what we can know about existence (epistemology). These may appear rather abstract ideas but this stems from the assumptions that most of us have about our own existence, which are grounded in our own particular cultural histories. These philosophers attempted to set aside any such assumptions about existence (putting aside the natural attitude, our everyday way of thinking about the world) using the phenomenological method so that they could formulate an understanding of existence that is free from such prejudices. So, for instance, at this time, in the West at least, there is an assumption (as a result of a hundred years of psychological theorising filtering down into popular culture) that people have particular personalities: ‘she’s really outgoing’; ‘he is so shy’ and so on. This tendency whilst appearing to describe ourselves and others is more than simple (phenomenological) description, for it brings all sorts of theoretical assumptions to bear on how we understand ourselves and others. Having a personality type implies having a fixed nature or character and suggests that we can predict how someone will react in any given situation. The extrovert is likely to be the life and soul of the party, be confident in strange situations and find it easy to connect with others. The reality of course, as any good observer of human nature will testify, is that people are much more complex than this and much less predictable. The ‘so called’ extrovert may be painfully shy at some moments or at different times in life. This may be covered up in an attempt to preserve the sense of identity as an extrovert ascribed to them by others, but with close observation the cracks will ultimately show. Conversely, the introvert may demonstrate considerable courage in new situations that surprise all those who thought they knew them. Existential philosophers have provided a valuable corrective to assumptions like the notion of personalities and suggested radically different alternatives for understanding human nature. So, for instance, existentialists do not understand people as fixed personalities but rather as beings that have no fixed core but are always engaged in the process of life, creating new meaning for themselves moment by moment. This subtle but important shift has huge implications for how we understand life and also how we practise counselling and psychotherapy. Without any simple notion of fixed personalities, people have many more possibilities in life to transform themselves, to realise their potential and to become who they want to be rather than who they assume they must be.

Hermeneutic philosophy has an even longer history than existentialism, beginning in the 17th Century with scholars attempting to understand the divine word of God through scripture but now most often associated with philosophers such as Hans Georg Gadamer (1900–2002) and Paul Ricoeur (1913–2005). Their work was concerned with interpretation and how we can understand what is being communicated, principally through text and later still broader forms of discourse, such as speech. What these philosophers realised was that whilst we often seem to grasp meaning relatively easily, there is a process of interpretation involved to bridge the barrier between ourselves and others, whether that other is God (expressed through scripture) or simply another human being that we engage in conversation. Ideas about how we communicate and come to understand others and how they experience the world are, of course, vital to effective psychotherapeutic practice and form another element in existential counselling and psychotherapy. As counsellors and psychotherapists we need to work hard to know our clients, to really understand them and find the bridge between our way of seeing the world and their own, and hermeneutic methods provide an additional tool to better enable us to do this. In Chapter 11 I introduce some of the key ideas of hermeneutic philosophy and discuss how these ideas translate into a practical method to improve our practice as existential counsellors and psychotherapists.

Whilst existential and hermeneutic philosophies (and indeed, phenomenology too) are practical philosophies, principally concerned with the nature of existence and how we can come to understand it, there is still a process of translation needed to take these sophisticated ideas and use them practically and psychotherapeutically with clients. The history of existential counselling and psychotherapy (described in brief below) is a history of the translation and application of philosophical ideas from the existential and hermeneutic traditions into psychotherapeutic practice. Before moving on to provide some brief history, and in the process situate existential counselling and psychotherapy within the broader history of counselling and psychotherapy, I want to first look at and dispel a few of the common myths about existential counselling and psychotherapy.

Common misconceptions

Anything goes?

One of the most pervasive and pernicious myths about existential counselling and psychotherapy is that it is a ragbag ‘anything goes’ approach to practice. This myth is not without foundation and it is easy to see how it has arisen. Existential counselling and psychotherapy is a psychotherapeutic perspective that avoids technique and emphasises the need for practitioners to find their own ways of working. This distinguishes it from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), for instance, where very specific guidance is provided for effective practice and there exists a clear set of techniques which must be utilised. The case for practitioners creating their own form of existential counselling and psychotherapy is, however, rather overstated. Whilst the existential approach is not an approach that might easily be manualised (as we have seen with CBT), this does not mean that we cannot proscribe limits to what is and what is not existential counselling and psychotherapy. There are core principles that underpin the existential approach (described briefly above), and without these there is no existential therapy. Existential counselling and psychotherapy is not an eclectic or integrated form of therapy, which can accommodate ideas from CBT or psychoanalysis, but is instead a philosophically grounded form of therapy with a central core to practice. Trainees and experienced practitioners need to be very cautious when attempting to incorporate ideas from other forms of therapy into their practice, for without a clear philosophical justification there is likely to be confusion for both the therapist and client alike.

All in the head?

Another common misconception about existential counselling and psychotherapy is that it is overly intellectual. It is true that the approach requires a great deal of the therapist intellectually and this is a key criterion for suitability to train as a therapist, but it does not require the same of the client. The role of the therapist is to act as a translator of the often very complex ideas of existential and hermeneutic philosophy and the client need not know anything of the theory which underpins the method. The therapist is the conduit, embodying their knowledge and engaging in a very real manner moment by moment with the client. There are dangers for therapists, of course, in losing sight of the here-and-now experiential element (for instance, around feelings) but that is not an inherent flaw in the approach, as the present is treated seriously by existential philosophers, but rather a result of the need for the therapist to be aware of their own weaknesses. It is likely that people drawn to the existential approach are attracted by the intellectual quality underpinning the method (similar to psychoanalysis), but some of the most eloquent and beautiful existential writing concerns the way in which we are more than simply a mind but rather embodied creatures fundamentally in relation with others. This is not a therapy for those without a heart, for those without passion or for those without care.

Whilst it is important to guard against the dangers of existential therapy being an exercise in academic philosophy, it is also important to avoid the rather overused charge that existential therapists (or perhaps most commonly, trainee existential therapists) are being ‘overly intellectual’ when engaged in thinking about their client work. It is necessary to engage intellectually with ideas from existentialism and hermeneutics when reflecting on one’s client work (for instance, in supervision), for without this we end up with nothing but a watered-down psychoanalysis or person-centred approach to counselling (see below). We must not be afraid of the rich intellectual heritage that underpins our approach and the insights that it may allow into our work with clients.

Isn’t that just person-centred counselling?

At its worst existential counselling and psychotherapy can appear to be a rather cold version of person-centred counselling (or conversely, a rather watered-down psychoanalysis), but nothing should be further from the truth. The phenomenological method alone may lead to existential counselling and psychotherapy appearing to cover much of the same ground as person-centred counselling, though without the empathic warmth, but the phenomenological method is just the start and not the end of existential therapy. The core conditions of person-centred counselling of unconditional positive regard and empathic understanding may appear at first glance to be the same as the phenomenological attitude, where we take people’s experience seriously and attempt to communicate this back to our clients to enable them to better understand their own situation, but this is not quite right. In particular, there is no essential requirement for empathy in the phenomenological method, though in reality most existential therapists would ensure that rapport is developed early on in the therapeutic relationship, at least in part through some communication of empathy. Similarly, unconditional positive regard is also not key to the phenomenological method, but once again it is likely that good existential therapists will work to develop a warm relationship in the early stages with their clients that is not conditional on any specific criteria. The key differences become more apparent later on in the therapy where an existential therapist is likely to stress the need for the client to take control of their own emotional needs (with less need therefore from the therapist to communicate empathy) and not require high levels of positive regard from the therapist. That is, whilst these core conditions provide the basis for effecting client change in person-centred counselling, they are not understood in the same terms by existential therapists. Existential therapists instead see change occurring in their clients through increased insight and awareness, greater openness to the world (and the choices that may be made) and increased courage and passion to face the inherent difficulties of life, as the result of the combination of the phenomenological method and ideas from existentialism and hermeneutics.

Situating existential counselling and psychotherapy

Existential counselling and psychotherapy has its roots in the work of a number of early psychotherapists, notably Ludwig Binswanger (1881–1966) and Medard Boss (1903–1990). Binswanger and Boss both trained as psychoanalysts who, becoming dissatisfied with this particular theoretical perspective in the 1930s, sought to draw on ideas from existentialism to alter their practice and develop what they referred to as ‘Daseinsanalysis’. This rather ferocious sounding name was inspired by the work of Heidegger who coined the term ‘Dasein’ to refer to the ‘there of being’, something which will be explained in Chapter 3 when I discuss his thought in detail. What they did was to keep the psychoanalytic frame (with clients on couches freely recounting anything that concerned them) but stripped away all the psychoanalytic theory and instead focused on staying phenomenologically with the client’s meaning, drawing on ideas from Heidegger in the most part to offer up therapeutic interventions. This divergence from (mostly Freudian) psychoanalysis was a key moment in the history of existential counselling and psychotherapy. The theoretical assumptions of psychoanalysis were jettisoned in favour of an approach which took the client’s experience seriously, in its own terms. Two of the key psychoanalytic concepts which were – and continue to be – rejected by the early existential therapists were the notion of a dynamic unconscious and transference/countertransference. Dream analysis was also central to much early psychoanalytic work though is less central now, but this too was radically re-worked, particularly by Boss (1957), moving it from an analysis of the symbolic to the phenomenological. I discuss this in more detail in Chapter 6. It is worth spending a little time here explaining the existential–phenomenological approach to the unconscious and transference.

The unconscious is a concept, extensively elaborated in psychoanalysis, that warrants particular discussion in the context of existential therapy. Freud did not ‘discover’ the unconscious as is popularly imagined – the idea had existed long before him in philosophical thought – but he did elaborate and re-vitalise the concept such that it is now part of the wider cultural imaginary. Indeed, it is hard to imagine people in the West not thinking in terms of conscious and unconscious aspects of mental life, such is the hold that these ideas have on the public (including many counsellors and psychotherapists). The objection in existential terms is not with things being out of conscious awareness but with the Freudian notion of the unconscious as a repository of all things that are not within consciousness, of treating the unconscious as if it were somewhere in space, a system, rather than a process. The Freudian notion of the unconscious is founded ...