Psychology

Existential therapy is closely related to the existentialism philosophical school of thought because both agree that every individual bears the greatest responsibility for determining the direction life will take. Thus, in existential therapy, the focal point will be on the individuals role and responsibility over personal mental well being.  (Hoffman, 2009) refers to five dimensions (referred to as existential gives), which characterize the therapy. These are freedom vs. responsibility, human limitation, loneliness vs. need to form meaningful relationship, meaning vs. meaninglessness and emotions.

Therapeutic process
The dimensions listed above form the basis for existential therapy. An equally important theory in the therapy according to (Boeree, 2003) is phenomenology. It is a theory that allows for subjective evaluation of phenomena such as relationships, images and memories. In allowing for subjectivity, the theory makes it possible for the phenomena to convey a meaning or message to the individual. Creation of self awareness is the primary aim of the therapy because it is from this that an individual will accept personal responsibility for directing events and circumstances affecting his or her life. For instance, self aware patient will know that a meaningful life is not automatic it has to be created. It is from that conviction that the individual will recognize that life offers one freedoms, which are however accompanied by responsibilities.

An existential therapists responsibility will be to facilitate the clients journey towards self awareness. To do this effectively, the therapist must dispense with personal prejudices and biases so that that as the patient embarks on the self discovery journey the therapist will be capable of providing guidance free from personal perspectives. Of note here is that the phenomenology theory only applies to the patient. A patient undergoing the therapy will be expected to fully avail themselves for holistic therapy that will search for meaning and personal ideology. The patient must not be in search of quick psychological relief. These guidelines should dictate the patients approach to the therapy. As noted, existential therapy is a journey by the patient towards personal discovery with the guidance by the therapist. This nature makes the relationship between the two a more direct one based on faith and reciprocal trust. For that reason, transference and counter transference are likely to be inherent in the process.

Two common techniques are reframing and paradoxical intention. Reframing focuses on the positives in situations and redirecting the clients focus towards them. This technique may work well for a schizophrenic patient. It may be used to integrate the patient with some of the passive thoughts he or she is trying to run away from by exposing the positivity of such thoughts. Paradoxical intention is confrontational one that encourages the client to take on activities they naturally have a fear towards. This may be helpful in curing phobias.

Evaluation
A prominent strength of this therapy is its focus on an individuals internal strength. Inner strength has more versatile applications, meaning that individuals with this kind are able to confront a wider array of challenges compared to those whose therapies deal with isolated situations. However, this therapy has the limitation of assumption. It assumes that all an individual is in pursuit of is happiness. It fails to take cognizance of other concerns such as values the individual may hold dear. Other than that, the therapy has a high adaptability to situations because each client can always have a therapy designed to suit his or her needs. This is one concept on the therapy that I would like to integrate in to all my counseling session so that every patient I see for whatever reason will be treated as undergoing unique experiences. I like the fact that the theory emphasizes on the impartiality or non biasness of the therapist. This concept is the congruent with that of Christianity in that a person is not allowed to pass judgment on another this is a role that is left to God.