Humanistic/Existential therapies

CLIENT/PERSON CENTERED THERAPY

Theory of change

Client to grow through the therapeutic relationship with 3 essential componence (CONGRUENCE/GUINENESS/UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD and EMPATHY) people as inherently growing/good/avoids diagnosing people/guide or idea of what the ideal person should be 

Role of therapist

• Nondirective/facilitator help client grow and change

• Client determines goals of therapy including how many sessions

• SELF-ACTUALIZATION

TX Goals

• Self-acceptance

• Congruence between clients idealized and actual selves

• increased self-understanding

• decreased level of defensiveness/insecurity and guilt (explores expectations/guilt)

• More positive relationships and increased comfort with others

• Increased ability to experience and express feelings in the here and now

Key concepts

• congruence: therapist expresses genuineness their feelings honestly, does not hide behind a professional façade, is transparent with feelings thoughts and beliefs

• unconditional positive regard: complete acceptance and nonjudgemental respect of clients and their feelings allows clients to feel less anxious about their perceived weakness and take risks

• empathy: therapist senses the feelings and personal meaning the client is experiencing and is able to communicate this understanding to the client.

• self-actualization: innate tendency of all human beings to reach their fullest potential

• locus of control: through the therapeutic relationship clients are able to take control of their lives rather than follow the direction of others who were previously in control.

• non-directive therapy: clients are allow to lead the discussion

*ON THE EXAM IT COULD ASK FOR THE STAGES OF THEORY.- LOOK FOR ANSWERS UNCONDITIONAL POTIVE REGARD/EXPRESS CONGRUENCE/PROMOTING SELF-ACCEPTANCE/THERPAISTS GIVES SUPPORT ON SELF-ACCEPTANCE 

GESTALT THERAPY

BOTH EXISTENTIAL AND HUMANISTIC

Theory of change

• Change occurs through increased awareness of the here and now experience in a dialogic (a communicative approach that emphasizes two-way dialogue, mutual understanding) relationships

Role of therapist

• Therapist is an authentic present other

• Non-directive and non-judgmental

• Increase the clients awareness being in the present moment

Treatment goals

• Clients will be more aware of what they are doing/how they are doing it//how they can change themselves/accept and value themselves/self-acceptance

Key Concepts

• Phenomenological Method: explore experience of the client through description and not interpret (e.g. I see you tearing up I am wondering what you are experiencing right now - response could get underlying of what the client is remembering/experiencing).

• Dialogical Relationship: therapist is fully present which allows clients to be fully present

• Experiential: through experiments the therapist supports client direct experience of something new instead of merely talking about the possibility of something new.

• Here and now focus: the past is discussed but as they discuss the past explore how it impacts the present

Interventions

• *Empty chair technique: Used to explore clients relationships with themselves or others in their lives. 

• Experiments: Practice experienced feelings instead of just talking about them empty chair could be a type a of experiment

• Body technique: Clients awareness to their body functioning helping them be aware of how they can use their bodies to support themselves

• Focus on the process: Therapists pays attention to how things are being said and how therapy is unfolding/tone of voice/body language/energy in the moment

*ON TEST LOOK FOR EMPTY CHAIR/EXPERIEMENTS/HERE AND NOW FOCUS

EXISTENTIAL THERAPY

Theory of Change

• Change occurs through when they find philosophical meaning in their lives in the face of anxiety/live responsibly/personal choice on how they live their lives 

• How do I exist

Role of therapist

• Provide encounter with a “real” other

• presence of the therapist is essential

• helping the client focus on personal responsibility for making decisions

Treatment Goals

• Client discovers their own life meaning

• Confronts anxiety inherent in living

• client experiences agency (making personal choices) and responsibility in their construction of their life - empowering the client

Key Concepts

• All persons have the capacity of self-awareness

• As free beings everyone must accept the responsibility that comes with freedom

• Genuine encounter with a “real” other for client to realize their own uniqueness

• each person must continually recreate themselves. the meaning of life and existence is never fixed; rather it constantly changes

• Anxiety is part of the human condition

• Death is a basic human condition that gives significance to life

Interventions

• Focus on moment to moment process

• “Holding” - looking/remembering/re-experiencing at the problem

• empathetic availability: Be with the person and sitting with them in that pain/feeling

• Telling and talking about/naming emotional pain places: mutual encounter around the problem in the presence of the “real” other (therapist goal is to be with the person and not take away the pain but being present with the client feeling the pain) the relationship between client and therapist can be used to process the situation with increased support

• Mastering the emotional pain: Process of reflection and behavioral experimentation which helps client discover healing activities which helps process and defusing problem situations.

• Honoring the pain: Process of celebrating the painful experience which made us who we are/how the client learned/grown/and share with others

EXPERIENTIAL/SYMBOLIC THERAPY

Theory of Change

• Change happens though existential encounter - the authentic meeting of the client and therapist in the present moment and by expanding the clients range of experience

• Generally used with families

• influenced by gestalt

Role of therapist

• Authentic “other”

• Playful/Creative

Treatment Goals

• growth and increased flexibility (have fixed ways of being in the world/for people to change how they interact with the world)

Key Concepts

• battle for structure: therapist establishes the rules of therapy/therapist encourages that the entire family attends the session

• battle for initiative: Motivation from change must come from the family and the therapist should not work harder than the family/family sets the agenda for the session/therapist sits silently for family to take initiative/family determines how change happens

• trial of labor: Assessing roles, boundaries, beliefs, history and levels of conflict within the family

• Activating constructive anxiety: reframing anxiety in the family as efforts towards more positive outlook anxiety towards accomplishing something (for motivation) 

• Play, Humor and Craziness: taps into irrational side, finding solutions in creative interactions.

Phases of Treatment

• Beginning: Engage family as authentic - encourage all family members to attend/battle for structure/family wins battle of initiative/gather information about boundaries, coalitions, roles and level of conflict

• Middle: Develop sense of cohesion. Create alternative interactions. Highlight inappropriate boundaries (highlighting interactions/pointing out how others might see the world), role playing different situations. use play and craziness

• End: Highlight accomplishment and reflect on growth. Identify potential growth in the future/blocks to future growth/role-play future scenarios. Each individual expresses feelings about their experiences of therapy (each individual in the family unit had different experiences during session and reflection about that)