Existential Givens Research Articles

Existential themes of the 2020s syndemic polycrisis

AbstractThe coronavirus and anti‐Black racial violence dual pandemics of the early 2020s brought multiple existential concerns that aligned with the four existential givens of human experience, namely, life and death anxiety, community and isolation, meaning‐making and absurdity, freedom of choice and responsibility compared to determinism, and existential guilt and shattering. These themes are examined through an analysis and summary of the seven articles included in this special issue. These seven articles substantiate a need for further research and widely implemented interventions that emphasize culturally affirming and sustaining humanistic and existential counseling practices paired with advocacy for systemic change that enhances community solidarity alongside meaning‐making and identity preservation. This approach aims to support people from marginalized communities in navigating compounded challenges during dual crises such as the early 2020s syndemic polycrisis.

The psychological impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Black social workers

AbstractThis qualitative study investigated the psychological impact of the dual pandemics of COVID‐19 and anti‐Black violence on client‐facing social workers who identify as Black, the coping strategies they used in response to the pandemic, and the ways in which these individuals’ racial and cultural identities impacted their experiences. Such individuals are at unique risk for traumatic stress and burnout. This risk was compounded by the traumatic nature of the dual pandemics and the ways in which they forced confrontation with Yalom's existential givens of human existence: death, isolation, meaninglessness, and freedom and responsibility. Eight client‐facing social workers who identified as Black and lived in the United States were interviewed using a 19‐item semistructured protocol created by the researchers that addressed the research questions. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis methodology. Five themes were constructed: (1) Changes in treatment due to COVID‐19, (2) Emotional toll due to the pandemic, (3) Experiences related to being Black, (4) Beneficial experiences, and (5) Coping with COVID‐19 and ongoing racism. Participants’ experiences demonstrated the compounded psychological risk factors they faced as social workers, Black Americans, and survivors of the pandemic, and the ways in which they confronted existential concerns. Participants demonstrated resilience by making new meanings out of their experiences and implied their successful posttraumatic growth. This study demonstrated the need for greater support of Black social workers in social work practice and policy to ease the compounded stressors they face as a result of the pandemic.

Understanding prolonged grief from an existential counseling perspective

AbstractIn this article, we examine prolonged grief through an existential theoretical lens. In particular, we critically compare criteria for prolonged grief disorder with existential theoretical principles, including existential phenomenology, existential relatedness, and existential givens of human existence: death anxiety, existential freedom, existential isolation, and existential meaning/meaninglessness. We explore how existential perspectives and principles provide a clinically useful explanation for the presence and etiology of many of the symptoms of prolonged grief. We also describe counseling implications for treating prolonged grief phenomenologically, relationally, and through the lens of the four existential givens.

РОЛЬ ЭКЗИСТЕНЦИАЛЬНОГО ОПЫТА В ПЕРЕЖИВАНИИ СИТУАЦИИ НЕОПРЕДЕЛЕННОСТИ

Uncertainty is an objective feature of the modern world. The uncertainty has acquired a special meaning recently in connection with the pandemic, which has brought an unprecedented level of anxiety and actualized existential givens. According to research, the main tool in the ability to accept the ambiguity of the world and discover new opportunities in the face of uncertainty is meaning. Existential experience, expressed in processing existential givens of death, freedom, loneliness and meaning, deeply affecting a person, becomes a source of personal changes and carries out value-semantic regulation of a person’s entire life. The purpose of the study is to analyze the role of existential experience in processing uncertainty. Written interviews of 108 subjects aged 25-45, which took place during the second wave of coronavirus in Moscow, were studied for the presence of existential issues. The types of processing existential experience were singled out; an empirical analysis of the relationship between the aspects of processing existential experience and indicators of tolerance for ambiguity, hardiness, trait anxiety, subjective happiness and basic hope were carried out. According to the results, emotional processing of existential experience is positively associated with greater existential fulfillment. Together with presence of personal resources it is positively associated with greater hardiness and low level of trait anxiety. Tolerance to ambiguity positively correlates with subjective happiness in respondents with an emotional type of processing existential experience. An assumption is made that an emotional type of processing existential experience contributes to personal maturity, an increase in basic hope and the acquisition of a creative position in relation to life, which is expressed not only in successful coping with anxiety, but also in the pleasure of creative transformation of uncertainty.

Trust as a leading socio-psychological relationship in the experience of existential given

The understanding of the value of human life and responsibility for everything that happens or can happen to a person is analysed in the article; ways of overcoming alienation and loneliness and building trust in oneself, in the world and in others are identified. A theoretical overview, where the connectivity of existential givens is traced, is presented; in works of psychology, we however do not find scientific-psychological and statistical substantiation of these connections, which were outlined as long ago as at the time of existentialist philosophers. The results of empirical research are obtained by using the following methods – the study of personal trust or distrust in the world, in other people, in oneself by Alla Kupreychenko; Milton Rokeach Value Survey; Multidimensional diagnostic of "responsibility" RESPONSIBILITY-70; Dmitriy Leont'yev’s Meaningful Orientations Test; "Death Attitude" questionnaire by Paul T. P. Wong; Kseniya Chistopol'skaya’s adaptation of the "Fear of Personal Death" questionnaire, Yevgeniy Osin & Dmitriy Leont'yev’s differential questionnaire on the experience of loneliness. 80 people between the ages of 18 and 61 took part in the study. Of these, 54 % were females and 46 %, males. 51 % of the respondents have a family; 49 %, do not; 50 % of the respondents have a higher education. It is established that the level of understanding life, accepting responsibility, loneliness and its consequences are largely determined by the individual's trust in oneself, in others and in the world as a whole; the "optimal measure" of trust allows a person to accept existential given and cope with the feeling of meaninglessness of existence and the fear of death; what becomes the logical continuation of the search and finding meaning in life and the struggle with existential crisis is the attitude towards death, which includes analysis of the reasons for fear.

The Transactional Analysis Review Survey: An Investigation Into Self-Reported Practices and Philosophies of Psychotherapists

Since the creation of transactional analysis (TA) in the 1950s, almost 50,000 handbooks, theoretical articles, and personal perspectives have been published about it. However, the application of TA has not been systematically studied. The research described in this article involved an online survey titled the Transactional Analysis Review Survey (TARS), which consisted of ten open and 45 closed questions. Items were derived from the most frequently cited TA publications and focused on the psychotherapist’s perspective on metalevel reflection, a central clinical phenomenon, etiology of psychological problems, therapeutic mechanisms, and therapist competencies. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis, principal component analysis, and latent class analysis. The survey was filled out by 238 TA therapists, and most reported seeing TA as a therapeutic approach, a general attitude and view of the world, and their preferred model in their practice. According to their reports, TA focused on the client’s ego states and transactions, social functioning, and self-efficacy, which helped improve their psychological health, self-realization, and general and behavioral well-being. Clients’ most frequently reported problems were seen as caused by negative messages early in life (scripts), lack of development of mature coping mechanisms, transgenerational messages, life events, denial of existential givens, and genetics/temperament. Individuals were understood to have some choice in accepting or rejecting the negative impact of these messages and life events via behavior, emotions, and cognitive styles. TA was viewed as helping clients via the therapeutic work with their ego states, social functioning, and self-efficacy. The changes were facilitated by the therapist competencies of positive client-practitioner relationship, working at experiential depth in the here and now, etiological analysis, and providing treatment structure. Thus, TA seems to offer a coherent conceptual framework for psychotherapeutic practice. Further empirical validation of this framework is required.

An existential model of addiction

IntroductionDespite existentialism positing that existential concerns are universal, research into the existential issues related to addiction remains scarce. An existential model of addiction is lacking.ObjectivesThis research aims to develop an existential model of addiction, conceptualising the development of addiction through to authenticity.MethodsA scoping literature review was carried out using PUBMED, reference lists and internet websites.ResultsPsychopathology, from an existential point of view, occurs as a result of the avoidance of the existential givens which are death, freedom, existential isolation and meaninglessness. In this model, addiction is positioned as a coping mechanism to deal with the existential or neurotic anxiety which arises from facing or avoiding the existential givens. Addiction is defined as being-with-drug; a state in which our inherent relation to others is replaced by a relation with a substance. This state is understood from the ontological, axiological, ethical and praxeological levels, shedding light on the phenomenological experience of addiction. The existential dilemmas around meaning, loneliness, death, freedom, guilt and control while living with addiction are discussed. Finally, existential crises, boundary situations and secondary suffering are seen as the main motivators to overcome addiction.ConclusionsPhenomenological and existential research support the fact that existential issues are relevant to addiction. This model explains the relationships between existential concepts and addiction, while providing a framework for clinicians to explore and address these issues with patients.

A comparison of the existential and medical models of addiction

IntroductionAfter developing an existential model of addiction, it became evident that there are major differences between the existential and medical models of addiction.ObjectivesThis research aims to investigate the boundary and overlap between the existential and medical models of addiction.MethodsThe existential model was compared and contrasted with a narrative literature review of the medical model of addiction.ResultsThrough the existential definition being-with-drug, addiction is conceptualised in terms of a relationship with the drug and the impact on one’s sense of self. The medical model focuses on diagnostic criteria, genetic and environmental risk and protective factors, and an underlying neurobiological explanation. In contrast to the prevalent disease model, the existential view maintains that drug addiction is a coping mechanism used to mitigate existential and neurotic anxiety which results from facing or avoiding the existential givens. Phenomenological research supporting existential psychotherapy in addiction is contrasted with the quantitative medical research which forms the basis for current addiction guidelines. A comparison of both models is presented focusing on the issues of coping, choice, responsibility, mandatory treatment, medication, psychotherapy and the therapeutic relationship. The biopsychosocial model is compared to van Deurzen’s modes of existence, which provides the basis for existential psychotherapeutic interventions. Furthermore, existential literature was examined to determine whether an individual can authentically choose to live addicted.ConclusionsBoth models fall short of giving a holistic view of addiction. A combination of models is necessary to address the diversity of issues patients present with.

Making Meaning Out of Intersectionality Through Expressive Arts Therapy: A Case Study

Creative Arts Educ Ther (2020) 6(2):127–140 DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2020/6/24 Making Meaning Out of Intersectionality Through Expressive Arts Therapy: A Case Study 透過表達藝術治療從多元交織身份中建構意義：個案研究 Abstract This paper illustrates how Expressive Arts therapy within a depth psychotherapy perspective helps one to face a heightened awareness of the four existential givens of life: death, isolation, freedom, and meaninglessness. The case of a mainland Chinese gay man, recently diagnosed with HIV, demonstrates how his intersectional identities come into play throughout the therapeutic process of meaning-making. Guided meditation and relaxation through listening to music, drawing, improvisation using the voice and the body, psychodrama techniques, story writing and Chinese calligraphy, which combines writing and drawing, all highlight the role of intermodal arts in igniting and deepening the process. Keywords: intersectionality, existential, Expressive Arts therapy, meaning-making, Chinese 摘要 本文章說明表達藝術治療在深度心理治療的角度下如何幫助個案面對獲提高覺察的人生四大終極關懷 – 死亡、孤立、自由及無意義。一位新確診感染愛滋病病毒的中國內地的男同志個案將展示多元交織身份在意義建構的治療過程中如何發揮作用。聆聽音樂下導引冥想及放鬆、繪畫、聲線及身體的即興、心理劇技巧、故事創作及結合寫作和繪畫的中國書法突顯跨藝術媒介如何點燃和深化過程。 關鍵字：多元交織性，存在主義，表達藝術治療，意義建構，華人

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ПЕРЕЖИВАНИЯ ЭКЗИСТЕНЦИАЛЬНОГО ОПЫТА И ЕГО СВЯЗЬ С ТРЕВОЖНОСТЬЮ В ПЕРИОД ПАНДЕМИИ COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a real shock, forcing people to question the basic sense of security and face existential givens, such as finiteness of life, loneliness, freedom and meaning. The ongoing epidemic has sparked a wave of research on the mechanisms of effective stress coping in the situation of threat to life and safety. At the same time, more scientists are emphasizing the existential nature of anxiety caused by the pandemic, and the results of recent studies indicate a mediating role of existential anxiety between the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. The purpose of this research is to study the aspects of processing existential experience and its connection with coping with anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic. The study analyzed written interviews of 108 subjects aged 25-45 years, held during the second wave of coronavirus in Moscow, for the presence of existential issues of death, loneliness, freedom and meaning. The types of processing existential experience were distinguished; an empirical analysis of the connection between the aspects of processing the existential experience and trait anxiety was carried out. Results showed that 90% of respondents are confronted with one or more existential given, which may indicate the presence of a situational existential crisis. A connection has been found between an emotional processing of existential experience together with the availability of personal resources and successful stress coping during the pandemic. The necessity of including fundamental existential issues in the process of providing psychological help during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as assistance to people, who have had traumatic experiences, has been argued.

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use: Qumran

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT UseQumran Christopher T. Begg and Fred W. Guyette Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Fred W. Guyette Erskine College and Seminary 2442. [Message of 4QInstruction] Jonathan Ben-Dov, "Family relations and the Economic-metaphysical message of Instruction," JSP 30 (2, 2020) 87-100. Much of the sapiential treatise Instruction (=4QInstruction) can be read as a systematic attempt to support one basic ideological principle: Each person has a divinely assigned share, and every interaction that requires mixing that share with other agents is a breach of the metaphysical order. This idea was first formulated with regard to Instruction by Menahem Kister. In the present article, I apply this notion to the prologue (preserved in 4Q416 1) and to the sections on family relations (parents, wife) in 4Q416. These latter cases explore the financial relations within a family and align them with the overall principle of Instruction. The various sections highlight the person's spirit as a commodity, intertwined with the life and capital of that person. The literary focus is on the phenomenology of the spirit, as it shifts during various transactions. The biblical allusions in these sections are explained along the same line of argument. [Published abstract—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 2443. [The Calendar and MMT] Jonathan Ben-Dov, "The Calendar and 4QMMT," Interpreting and Living God's Law at Qumran, 105-16 [see #2632]. 4Q394 3a-4 1-3 preserves the end of a calendrical list. The same kind of list is known from 4Q326, 4Q327, and 4Q324d as well. The fragments known as 4Q394 1-2 are not part of 4Q394. They should be designated by their earlier siglum 4Q327, in accordance with the original view of J. T. Milik and J. Strugnell. 4Q327 and 4Q394 were, however, apparently written by the same scribe. The scribe of 4Q394 decided to reproduce a calendrical list before the halakhic section of MMT in 4Q394. The list had been previously copied by the scribe in question [End Page 896] in the scroll 4Q327, but when he came to use the list as a preface to MMT, he adapted the list's graphic format in order to bring it into conformity with the prose layout of MMT. The scribe decided to copy the calendrical list as part of 4Q394 presumably because he considered the calendar to be a significant factor in defining the community's sectarian identity and a legitimation of its schism from the wider Judaism of the day—both topics that are central to the argument set out in MMT. In my view, the calendrical list was not, however, an integral part of MMT. [Adapted from author's conclusion, p. 116—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 2444. [Demons and the Divine Order in Jubilees and the DSS] Miryam T. Brand, "Demons and Dominion: Forcing Demons into the Divine Order in Jubilees and the Dead Sea Scrolls," From Scrolls to Traditions, 18-37 [see #2543]. K. van der Toorn has pointed out that ancient Mesopotamian religion presupposed the existence of both malevolent evil spirits and a beneficent divine realm. How though were these two realities thought to relate to each other? In a myth like Atrahasis, the evil spirit Lamaštu/Pašittu, the scourge of pregnant women and young children, is integrated into the divine cosmic order as an agent of the gods in keeping human population growth in check. By contrast, in Mesopotamian exorcistic texts, evil spirits are envisaged as anarchic free agents against which those afflicted can only appeal for a divine intervention on their behalf by means of prescribed prayers and rituals. In her article, B. notes that a similar bifurcation with regard to the understanding of the relationship between evil spirits and God's benevolence—both of which are accepted as existential givens—can be observed in Second Temple literature, the DSS corpus in particular. In such texts as the Book of Jubilees, the Damascus Document, and the Community Rule, the evil spirts, led by such figures as Mastema and Belial, can only act with God's leave and in accordance with the limits set by him. By contrast, in the apotropaic...

Existential Givens in the COVID-19 Crisis

COVID-19 confronts humanity with an undeniable, unprecedented crisis. The focus of this article is the opportunities it offers for a proverbial pressing of the reset button by prompting pause and reflection on habitual patterns and serving as an “urgent experience” with the potential to spark revitalizing intentionality. Using Greening’s four dialectical existential givens— life/death, community/isolation, freedom/determinism, and meaning/absurdity—as a guiding framework, I explore imbalances in aspects of life in the United States that have been illuminated by COVID-19. Then, I employ existential–humanistic theorizing and research as a vision of how these dialectical forces can be transcended by confronting paradoxes posed by these givens (vs. simplistically overemphasizing either their positive or their negative aspects) and by activating the creative potential therein. Specifically, COVID-19 offers opportunities for individuals to relinquish an unsustainable and ineffective way of being inherent in and reinforced by the U.S. cultural narrative; to embrace ambiguity and tragedy; to actively identify, remediate, and reconcile underacknowledged and underactualized human capacities; and therefore to heal false dichotomies and become more capable of living fully, authentically, and flexibly. Accordingly, COVID-19 also provides opportunities for collective co-creation of a cultural narrative involving evolution toward enhanced senses of consciousness and caring.

This is the real “death-line” AND I am still alive: A collaborative reflexivity about life trajectories

In this article, we, Olga Lehmann, Mixo Hansen and Helena Hurme, engage in a process of collaborative reflexivity upon living, aging, and dying as we attempt to make sense of the illnesses of the last author. The companionship that emerged between us in the plurality of our identities as friends, colleagues, coauthors, and women, encouraged us to revisit aspects of the theories in developmental-cultural psychology such as (a) the process of meaning-making, (b) the equifinality model in relation to aging and dying, and (c) the notion of personal life philosophies in relation to virtues. Based on our personal experiences as well as our collaborative reflexivity as scholars, we highlight that developmental-cultural psychology could more explicitly address existential transitions, such as dying and existential givens, such as uncertainty in its theories. We present as well some preliminary integrations between existential and cultural perspectives of meaning-making.

Approaching mindful multicultural case formulation: Rogers, Yalom, and existential phenomenology

ABSTRACT Narrow or restricted case formulation considerations can limit therapeutic effectiveness, limit the lived base of evidence guiding psychotherapy, and contribute to psychotherapist microaggressions. Notably, Person-Centered Therapy (PCT) and existential phenomenology have, in combination, actively maintained that the cultural landscapes or interconnected world horizons of historical, contextual, and sociocultural matters are inseparable from lived experience. In what can be understood as mindfulness perspectives in their own right, the non-judgmental and presence-centered emphases of PCT and existential phenomenology are suited for mindful and meditative attunement to socioculturally diverse clients. This article sets out to begin providing a basis for person-world centered case formulation themes that are mindfully and meditatively linked with a psychotherapist’s depthful ontological attunement and cultural or contextual pan-experiential attunement to clients. These interdependent forms of Humanistic Existential Psychotherapy (HEP) attunement can open onto multiculturally informed person-world centered themes that may contribute to experiential restructuring and sociocultural self-actualization. As a way to enhance HEP’s sociocultural sensitivity, existential givens, phenomenological themes, and multicultural worldview values are integratively re-visioned as Sociocultural Lifeworld Themes.

Struggling with meaninglessness: a case study from an experiential–existential perspective

ABSTRACTMeaninglessness is one of the biggest threats of our era. Meaninglessness is not only one of the possible symptoms of depression. Meaninglessness as such is a complex experience which can be identified at a micro-dimensional felt sense level, as a meaning gap at a meso-dimensional narrative level, and as groundlessness at a macro-dimensional existential level. Person-centered therapies have explicitly focused on the micro- and meso-dimension of meaning. Existential therapies have emphasized the macro-dimensions by helping their clients to face the existential givens such as meaninglessness and meaning. In this article, the author explores how experiential–existential psychotherapy could help clients in dealing with meaninglessness by addressing this experience with micro-, meso-, and macro-dimensional interventions. A case study reveals how all meaning dimensions are important, but not at any moment. The client concludes the therapy with discovering what is most essential to him in life. From this experience, he finds the courage to engage with life at the fullest, whether it is ultimately meaningful or not.

Psychotherapy with two late adulthood children of the colonies.

There are a small group of mature adults in their 50s and 60s, members of the so-called third age that arrive at the door for psychotherapy. As clients, they want to explore an overwhelming sense of being dis-located in space and time, and at odds with where they find themselves living. They have a deep and profound sense of not belonging and of being rootless. These older, white, adults are the baby-boomers of post World War II, and I refer to them as the adult children of the colonies because they are of European descent but born in the colonies of Africa. This paper describes the experiences of two clients, Robert and Caitlin, who find themselves feeling progressively psychically dis-located in South Africa and confronting not only their limited future in terms of impending death, but confronting existential givens of life that prevent them at this late stage of life from returning home to their ancestral lands. They present a unique group of older adult clients, and like fish out of water, they have no sense of belonging to Africa, and as a result, they experience a range of emotions such as despair and depression with a concomitant sense of fragmented identities. Discussion of the cases ensues and includes the concept of intergenerational transmission of trauma, fragmented identities, and belonging as linked to ancestral lands.

Tourism and Existential Transformation: An Empirical Investigation

Couched in the context of the experience economy 3.0, this research conceptualized transformations as changes in existential authenticity and anxiety, and phenomenologically explored the essence of a transformative tourist experience and subsequent long-term changes. This research uncovered nine chronologically ordered themes in which existentially oriented concerns were prevalent. It found that tourists did not reflect on existential givens in situ until a triggering episode initiated the meaning-making process. Existential anxiety felt post-trip was found to motivate tourists to resolve pertinent existential dilemmas and to initiate meaningful life changes. Participants sustained enhanced existential authenticity and became more sensitive to existential anxiety in their lives thereafter.

Meaning and existential givens in the lives of cancer patients: A philosophical perspective on psycho-oncology.

Many cancer patients report changes in how they experience meaning in life and being confronted with life's limitations, understanding themselves as being vulnerable, finite, and free beings. Many would like to receive psychotherapeutic help for this. However, psychotherapy for these concerns often either focuses primarily on meaning in life (e.g., meaning-centered/logotherapy) or on existential givens (e.g., supportive-expressive therapy). The relationship between meaning in life and existential givens seems relatively unexplored, and it seems unclear how therapists can integrate them. The present article aims to explore the relationship between meaning and existential givens. Martin Heidegger was a founder of existentialism, inspiring both meaning therapies and supportive-expressive therapies. Therefore, we systematically apply his understanding of these phenomena, elucidated by four elements in his central metaphor of "the house." (1) Walls: In everyday life, we construct ordinary meanings, like the walls of a house, to protect us from our surroundings, wind, and rain. (2) Surroundings ("existential givens"): Confronted with cancer, the meanings/walls of this house may collapse; people may start seeing their surroundings and understand that they could have built their house at a different location, that is, they understand the broad range of possibilities in life, their responsibility to choose, and the contingency of current meanings. (3) How to design, build, and dwell: People may design, build, and dwell in their house in different ways: they may lock themselves in their house of impermeable "ordinary meanings" and deny the existence of existential surroundings; they may feel overwhelmed by all possibilities and be unable to experience meaning; they may build the house as their true home, use life's possibilities, and listen to their true self by building permeable "existential meanings." (4). Navigator: People may experience inner guidance to navigate in designing, building, and dwelling in this house. Meaning in life and existential givens are intertwined. Therefore, we suggest that it is necessary for psycho-oncologists to address both. Further clinical validation is required.

Dysfunctional personal experiences and existential dilemmas.

This article presents a theoretical discussion of the results from the research, “An Existential Understanding of Anxiety: An Integration of the Ideas of May, Yalom, and Schneider.” It focuses on the development of dysfunctional experiences according to the theoretical perspectives of Rollo May, Irvin Yalom, and Kirk Schneider. Dysfunctional experiences emerge when human beings experience (implicitly or consciously) different existential dilemmas and are unable to make consistent decisions and confront the experience of anxiety that results from such contact. In this sense, dysfunctional experiences are not developed simply from the consciousness of existential givens, as suggested by Yalom (1980), but by the dialectical and paradoxical relationship with the following human dilemmas: life versus death, freedom versus determinisms, isolation versus intersubjectivity, meaning versus insignificancy, individuation versus adaptation, and sense of power versus impotence. This idea implies that anxiety and dysfu...

Existential Dimensions of Surviving HIV

With the development of effective antiretroviral medications, long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS are confronted with life, a surprising reality many never expected. In this article, the author draws from his clinical experience to explore the existential dimensions of the experience of gay long-term survivors. In particular, the existential givens, as advanced by James Bugental, Tom Greening, and Irvin Yalom, are used as a framework in which to understand the challenges many long-term survivors face. Drawing from his clinical work with this enduring population, the author elaborates the profound nature of these challenges and the way in which the givens shed light on their ontological roots. The article concludes with an examination of survivor guilt, existential guilt, and their interplay in the lives of long-term survivors.