Existentialism and Rebt
Existential Therapy and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Integrated Approach to Counseling
During a lifetime, most individuals question the meaning of their existence at one point or another. Existential therapy aims to help individuals find purpose, have better defined goals, and live life to the fullest. Existential therapy takes into account cultural, social and political values of the client. It attempts to help the client live more deliberately, while accepting life’s unpredictable challenges and contradictions. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is complementary to existential therapy by providing techniques to help clients make changes once their awareness is increased through existential discovery. Existential therapy and REBT integrated approach to counseling can provide successful results by combining individual meaning with reasonable thinking. This empowers clients to take control of their lives. The first step in the therapy process is to help the client become aware of what changes need to be made in order to live a more fulfilling and satisfying life. This is achieved by examining one or more existential themes. In his book Existential Psychotherapy, Irwin Yalom describes four major themes that permeate existential psychotherapy: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness.
In the first theme, death, here are two major ideas that play key factors in therapy (Yalom, 1980). First of all, death and life coexist. Even though physically they are clearly separated, psychologically they exist simultaneously. Death is a natural part of the cycle of life, and as one dies, another is given an opportunity to experience life (Kaufmann, 1975). Death is a realistic threat and a part of our daily lives. Every day we are alive, we are closer to death. Frankl (2006) believes that “if there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without
Integrated Approach to Counseling
During a lifetime, most individuals question the meaning of their existence at one point or another. Existential therapy aims to help individuals find purpose, have better defined goals, and live life to the fullest. Existential therapy takes into account cultural, social and political values of the client. It attempts to help the client live more deliberately, while accepting life’s unpredictable challenges and contradictions. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is complementary to existential therapy by providing techniques to help clients make changes once their awareness is increased through existential discovery. Existential therapy and REBT integrated approach to counseling can provide successful results by combining individual meaning with reasonable thinking. This empowers clients to take control of their lives. The first step in the therapy process is to help the client become aware of what changes need to be made in order to live a more fulfilling and satisfying life. This is achieved by examining one or more existential themes. In his book Existential Psychotherapy, Irwin Yalom describes four major themes that permeate existential psychotherapy: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness.
In the first theme, death, here are two major ideas that play key factors in therapy (Yalom, 1980). First of all, death and life coexist. Even though physically they are clearly separated, psychologically they exist simultaneously. Death is a natural part of the cycle of life, and as one dies, another is given an opportunity to experience life (Kaufmann, 1975). Death is a realistic threat and a part of our daily lives. Every day we are alive, we are closer to death. Frankl (2006) believes that “if there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without
References: Ellis, A., Harper, R. (1997). A Guide to Rational Living. Chatsworth: Melvin Powers Wilshire Book Company. Ellis, A. (2002). Overcoming Resistance: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Integrated Apporach Frankl, V. (2006). Man’s Search For Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press. Kierkegaard: Authority. In Kaufmann, Walter (Eds) (1975). Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte (pp83-120) Kierkegaard: Truth is Subjectivity. In Kaufmann, Walter (Eds) (1975). Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte (pp83-120) Nietzsche: The Portable Neitzche. In Kaufmann, Walter (Eds) (1975). Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte (pp121-133) Yalom, I. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books. Yalom, I. (1989). Love’s Executioner: & Other Tails of Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.