Existential psychotherapy (also phenomenology) is referred to as a philosophical approach to life, and is a therapy that is not as well-known as others. It does not use ‘methods’, but is guided by some core principles, or ‘givens’.
Existentialism is an approach to life. And an enriched one due to the influences of many great minds. These include Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Victor Frankl, Irvin Yalom, and Emmy van Deurzen, to name just some. It is a form of humanistic therapy that is keenly focused on individuals’ personal responsibility, choice, freedom and lived experiences.
Yalom for example, offers the four “givens” of the human condition: freedom, isolation, meaning, and death. According to the existential view, thinking about death offers significance and motivation to live life fully, creating accountability towards taking opportunities and living meaningfully. Existentialists also believe that there is a value in anxiety, and existential work seeks to facilitate an acceptance about anxiety, dread, and pain.
This can remove some of the ‘power’ that anxiety may hold over you. And a deeper understanding of your anxiety can also help you to better understand yourself, and discover what gives your life meaning, and purpose. Also enlightening to your responsibility toward your life, and therefore the choices you have, which can lead to a more fulfilling existence.
Existential therapy therapists aim to create a healing relationship between themselves and their client. Through this, Phinity therapists aim to help you come to a place of engagement with your life, so you can make choices, and remove obstacles.
Indeed, existentialism help individuals focus on the reasons for existence, the scope of free will, and choices about life. This deep approach seeks to bring awareness and understanding to our subjective embodied experience of existence, within the context of our lifeworld.
Our existential psychotherapy therapists offer interesting ways to look at issues, and use their empathic skills, non-judgemental approach, Socratic questioning, and listening skills to help clients attain more self-awareness, make sense of their concerns, and work through existential crises in a more agentic way. This unique relationship will help you be brave about exploring yourself, find your meaning, and develop ways to feel able to reach your aims.
Existential therapy is well suited to issues around crises of identity, existence and life, anxiety, life transitions of any kind, terminal illness, suicidal ideation, trauma, and issues around meaning and life purpose.
It can help individuals work through feelings of guilt, grief, social unfulfillment, dissatisfaction with life or self, and other emotions that may be buried and causing internal problems that manifest externally in problematic ways.
We offer private existential psychotherapy in Birmingham. Phinity Therapy also serve other cities and countries through our network of qualified therapists. Online therapy is also available, catering for those who cannot reach our clinic or have busy schedules.
Make a commitment to taking control and living the life you want and deserve. Start by booking your Free Initial Consultation Today and speak to one of our friendly principal therapists about your concerns and desired goals.
You can alternatively fill in our contact form located on our About Us page, or give us a call.
*Due to limited time slot availability caused by high demand, we now offer only one Free Initial Consultation for prospective clients, further conversations are charged at our normal rate.
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