1.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………2
1.2. Freedom and responsibility………………………………………………………2
1.3. Striving for identity and relationships with others…………………………..3
1.4. Applying the two propositions to Linda’s case study……………………….4
Task 2. Person Centred approach and application to own struggles…………….5
Existential therapy is a psychotherapeutic engagement that acknowledges the
potential that people have, to choose how they live their lives and to accept the
responsibilities that come with those choices. It endeavours to provide opportunities
for individuals to search deeper within their selves and find meaning and purpose of
their lives. It acknowledges the freedom that people have to make own choices, as
well as the prohibitions associated with.
Existential therapy postulates that as people exist, there are mental dilemmas that
occur as a result of certain experiences in life. Existentialists believe that there are
four inevitable experiences that cause the dilemma in human existence, which are
freedom and responsibility, death, isolation and meaninglessness, (Corey 2011).
When an individual perceives these experiences and dilemmas, they get into a state
of anxiety. Existentialists believe that this state of anxiety forces people to evaluate
their reason for living and, in so doing, allows for people to continuously reinvent
themselves.
Corey (2011) outlines six propositions that entail basic human conditions. Among
these, only two basic conditions namely, freedom and responsibility and striving for
identity and relationship with others will be explored.
1.2. Freedom and responsibility.
In existentialism, an individual is an integral part of their own identity formation
because they can exercise the freedom to choose from various available options.
Corey (2011) comments that an individual is who they are as a result of the choices
they make. Although people are free to choose, there is need for them to clearly
understand that their freedom of choices carries responsibilities. This means that an
individual who exercises their right to choose also carries the responsibilities of the
outcomes of their choices. The concept of freedom means that individuals take
responsibility of the consequences of the choices they made in life. Because
responsibility is a huge task, most individuals try to circumvent it by justifying their
choices. Corey (2011) cites Russel (2007) who comments that individuals strive for
freedom but at the same time attempt to run away from it.
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