Existential Therapy
at Wellwood Counselling
What is existential therapy?
“At its heart, existential psychotherapy is a profoundly philosophical approach characterized in practice by an emphasis on relatedness, spontaneity, flexibility, and freedom from rigid doctrine or dogma.
Existential therapy generally consists of a supportive and collaborative exploration of clients’ lives and experiences. It places primary importance on the nature and quality of the here‐and‐now therapeutic relationship, as well as on an exploration of the relationships between clients and their contextual lived worlds.
In keeping with its strong philosophical foundation, existential therapy takes the human condition itself – in all its myriad facets, from tragic to wondrous, horrific to beautiful, material to spiritual – as its central focus. Furthermore, it considers all human experience as intrinsically inseparable from the ground of existence, or “being‐in‐the-world,” in which we each constantly and inescapably participate.
Existential therapy aims to illuminate the way in which each unique person – within certain inevitable limits and constraining factors – comes to choose, create and perpetuate his or her own way of being in the world. In both its theoretical orientation and practical approach, existential therapy emphasizes and honors the perpetually emerging, unfolding, and paradoxical nature of human experience, and brings an unquenchable curiosity to what it truly means to be human.
Ultimately, it can be said that existential therapy confronts some of the most fundamental and perennial questions regarding human existence: ‘Who am I?’ ‘What is my purpose in life?’ ‘Am I free or determined?’ ‘How do I deal with my own mortality?’ ‘Does my existence have any meaning or significance?’ ‘How shall I live my life?’”
-Wiley’s World Handbook of Existential Psychotherapy
Foundations of Existential Therapy
4-day workshop | online
The Canadian Institute of Existential Analysis and Logotherapy (CIEAL) is offering a 4-day online workshop on the foundations of existential therapy. If you have been interested in incorporating existential therapy into your practice, this training is for you!
The Existentialists Podcast
Listen up!
Interested in how to live an existentially attuned life?
Join Janelle as she, and three of her existential psychotherapist colleagues, discuss various topics as they pertain to existence.
Topics include:
| Boredom
| Loneliness
| Emotional (Dis)Honesty
| Ghosting
| Inner Consent
Visit The Existentialists to learn more and to join the community of listeners!
Existential Analysis
| I can be | I like to be | I may be me | I know for what |
“Existential Analysis is a psychotherapeutic approach whose goal it is to enable people to live with inner consent towards their own actions and own existence”
The type of existential therapy we practice at Wellwood is Existential Analysis (EA), which is a psychotherapeutic approach that originated from Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy. EA is a part of the International Society for Logotherapy and Existential Analysis in Vienna (GLE-International – Gesellschaft für Logotherapie und Existenzanalyse).
EA is currently taught and practiced in:
| Canada | Mexico | Chile | Argentina | Germany | Russia | Poland | Germany | Switzerland | Czech Republic | Romania |
Suggested Readings
| grab a good, strong cuppa and find your favourite nook |
If you want to absorb every bit of Existential Analysis you can, we suggest the following reads.
| Articles
Längle A. (2005). The Search for Meaning in Life and the Existential Fundamental Motivations. Existential Analysis, 16, 1, 2-14.
Längle A. (2003). The Art of Involving the Person. European Psychotherapy 4, 1, 25-36
| Books
Frankl, V. E. (1984). Man’s search for meaning: Revised and updated. New York: Washington Square Press.
Frankl, V. E. (1973). The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy (R. and C. Winston, Trans.). New York: Vintage Books. (Originally published in 1946 as Ärztliche Seelsorge.)
Frankl, V. E. (1969). The Will to Meaning. New York: World Publishing Press.