Eksistensiell psykoterapi

Abstract

Existential psychotherapy is a pluralistic tradition with a background in existential philosophy and humanistic, experiential and psychodynamic therapy traditions. A basic premise is that psychological difficulties arise when we encounter difficulties in dealing with emotional pain that is at once specific to our own individual lives, and at the same time related to common human concerns. This may be due to a lack of the inner tools to deal with emotions or of access to the kind of contact with others that can make the pain bearable. It may also have to do with being constrained by self-interpretations that lead us to believe that emotions, needs and passions can harm or destroy. The aim of existential therapy is to help enable the patient to be present in their own life, such as it is, with curiosity, humility and awe, and to constructively engage with both the possibilities and the limitations that inevitably are there. Keywords: existential psychotherapy, therapy traditions, emotional pain, therapeutic aims