Existential Therapy Essay

This brief report will discuss an interview in which existential therapy is used with an individual who is leaving prison and re-joining the general population.

There were various positive behavioural factors exhibited by the interviewer. The interviewer seemed to be listening intently, and asking for elaboration on questions. With many of the answers he received, the interviewer asked what it meant to the client. He acknowledged that the client would be facing challenges as he re-joined society and the stigma he would face as an ex-con. The interviewer encouraged the client to look at his time in prison and to reflect on how it has changed him as a person, and how his values of respect, freedom and family have also changed.

The client presented
many positive behavioural factors. His body language was open to communication- he was leaning towards the interviewer, maintaining an appropriate amount of eye contact, and elaborating on his answers. The client gave articulate responses and explained his concerns about leaving prison, including the anxiety and nervousness he felt, his fears about making up for lost time with his wife and son, and anxieties on finding work and supporting his family.

I observed many negative behavioural factors in the interviewer. Firstly, the interviewer sits in a chair much higher than that of the client, to the point where he is literally looking down upon the client, a sign of disrespect. As the client is an ex-con who is soon to be reintegrated into society, perhaps it would be better for the interviewer and client to be on the same level. The interviewer also spent a lot of time leaning back, constantly nodding and very stiff, not engaging with the client in a way that fosters conversation and openness. Questions the interviewer asked also tended to be very directed and obvious.

The client was very fidgety in his body language, a sign that he was uncomfortable and perhaps not fully paying attention to the therapist and what was being discussed at times.
At some points, the client was not so clear in his responses, and they were not followed up by the interviewer. In response to the interviewer’s statement that the client hadn’t learnt much from his five years in prison, the client said “I’ve had time to think, and I think I thought so much that I haven’t been thinking”. This kind of response seems negative to me, as it indicates that he wasn’t really engaging and answering the asked question.

I would have liked to further address how the client would go about reconnecting with his family, and explore possible support networks for ex-cons and their families. In doing this I would hopefully come to better understand the client’s view of counselling services and gain deeper insight into how this would help his reintegration.

I would also like to ask how the client plans to deal with his anxieties around reintegration and to avoid returning to prison. While it is touched upon in the interview that the client is quite anxious and nervous about returning to his family and the general population, the interviewer does not discuss ways the client could deal with this anxiety.

In conclusion, there were positive and negative aspects to this interview style. While many things were covered, there were also more things I would have touched on to better understand the client’s
perspective.