Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Summary

Superior Essays
Psychotherapy Video: Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy

The video Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy in Action, Part 1& Part 2 are two videos that are collected in the series “Psychotherapy With The Experts 2”. In these two videos, Dr. James F. Bugental conducts two separate psychotherapy sessions with a same client who encounters stressful life events. In order to assist this client in coping with her stress in a positive way, Dr. Bugental applies the existential-humanistic approach throughout these two psychotherapy sessions. The existential-humanistic psychotherapy mainly emphasizes bringing the present moment into clients’ awareness and believes in human potential is an important element. (International Institute for Humanistic
…show more content…
Bugental shows empathy and support for Marie’s situation. For psychotherapists, showing empathy and positive regard during the therapy session allows them to create a successful relationship with clients. According to an article that is written by Yalom and Bugental (1997), “Existential-Humanistic (EH) therapists undoubtedly offer support in many of the ways other therapists do - by conveying warmth and caring verbally and nonverbally, empathic remark, encouragement, and acknowledgement.” (Yalom & Bugental, 1997) At this point, Dr. Bugental’ reaction and empathy during the sessions is a good example of how existential-humanistic therapists help clients to tackle any psychological …show more content…
In these two videos, Dr. James F. Bugental conducts two separate psychotherapy sessions with a same client who encounters stressful life events. In order to assist this client in coping with her stress in a positive way, Dr. Bugental applies the existential-humanistic approach throughout these two psychotherapy sessions. The existential-humanistic psychotherapy mainly emphasizes bringing the present moment into clients’ awareness and believes in human potential is an important element. (International Institute for Humanistic Studies, n.d). As a prominent existential-humanistic psychotherapist, Dr. Bugental believes that individuals have more capacity and potential than they utilize, and he primarily assists his clients in utilizing their potential more thoroughly by guiding them to focus on their present moment. (Psychotherapy.net,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    During the 20th century, Carl Rogers came to be known as one of the most influential American psychologists to date and one of the founders of the humanistic approach. He is best known as the founder of “client-centered” or “non-directive” therapy and who stressed the importance of acceptance, genuineness, and empathy in fostering human growth. Originally studying theology in Vermont, Rogers eventually turned to clinical and educational psychology at the Teachers’ College of Columbia University. He came about during the Great Depression, when the scale of suffering demanded psychological attention. By then, Rogers was working at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and it was the work he did with these underprivileged kids that prompted the development of his client-centered approach.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    QUESTION #3 1. I feel that this notion is correct because the client and therapist has to build some type of connection and it makes one another trust each other. According to the book, the existential approach has helped bring the person back to central focus, it concentrates on central facts of human existence: self-consciousness and our consequent freedom (Corey, 2013, p. 157). 2.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humanistic therapies bring everything into the here and now, thus the helping the process unfolds in the present moment (Schneider & Krug, 2015). Through a careful attunement to clients, therapists reflect back aspects of the client’s experience that the client may not have noticed. For example, in the E-H therapy video, when Gina speaks about what it was like to be raised by her mother, Bugental (n.d.) redirects her to the present by stating “You’re the one who tries to be perfect.” Additionally, Bugental (n.d.) also focuses on highlighting Gina’s facial expressions as a way of helping her to be present with herself. Existential-humanists, like Bugental, believe that if the therapist can deeply attune to the client, it will help the client connect with what genuinely matters to him or her; thus, resulting in revitalizing his or her life (Schenider and Krug, 2015).…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    - Irvin D. Yalom (2008) Staring at the sun: overcoming the terror of death is a book that is written by Irvin D. Yalom (2008), who is an existential psychiatrist and an emeritus faculty of Stanford University. Over the past decades, Yalom has impacted the field of existential psychology remarkably, and his ideas contribute to existential psychotherapy as well. In this book, Yalom fully addresses how to overcome one’s inner terror of death by telling multiple affecting stories of his own and his psychotherapy sessions with his clients.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Three types of humanistic therapy are particularly powerful. Client-centered therapy declines the scheme of therapists as establishment on their clients' inner experiences. Rather, therapists help clients change by emphasizing their apprehension, care and curiosity. Gestalt therapy highlights what is called "organismic holism," which is the importance of being attentive of the here and now and accepting liability on your own behalf. Existential therapy’s focal points are autonomy, freedom and the search for meaning.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Gift of Therapy by Irvin D. Yalcom, M.D., is an insightful book about therapy from the counselors view. He takes you through real-life cases and gives suggestions on how to be or become a better counselor. The four ultimate concerns with existence (death, isolation, meaning of life, and freedom) are addressed throughout the chapters. While using an interpersonal framework with his groups, he works off of the assumption that his patients have an inability to sustain meaningful interpersonal relationships in their life. On the other hand, he uses existential therapy with individuals that he works with. With individuals, he assumes that his patients fall into a deep despair as they are confronted with the harsh facts of the human condition.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The most important goal needed when using Existential and Gestalt theories to establish a good working relationship with the client. In incorporating Existential and Gestalt therapies, the majority of focus will be on instilling Stan with a sense of awareness. Stan struggles with self-acceptance, anxiety, and feelings of worthlessness. Existential therapy will be beneficial in reducing these symptoms. Existential therapy aims at helping clients face anxiety and engage in action that is based on authentic purpose of creating a worthy existence (Deurzen& Adams, 2011).…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humanistic psychologists believe that an individual’s behavior is connected to his inner feelings and self-image (Courtland). A humanistic psychologist connects many of their studies to common characteristics that all humans share, such as: love, self-worth and grief. ambition had to do with the fact that I was lacking self-worth, and confidence. Thankfully, I had a good support system who constantly motivated me and gave me the praise I needed to make such achievements, but without a supportive environment I may have had more difficulty with humanistic psychology down the road. Carl Rogers believed that having a supportive environment was key to humanistic psychology and living a fulfilled lifestyle.…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The behavioral, humanistic, and cognitive perspectives each have vastly different views and theories. Each one analyzes and tackles psychological disorders in it’s own unique way. For example, there is the case of Jake. Jake is a student who has recently been diagnosed with anxiety disorder after starting harder classes for his major. Each perspective has different views on the origins of his anxiety and how to treat it.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The humanistic approach The humanistic approach was initially developed as a therapy and its theories are not accepted in mainstream psychology. However, it has made a marked influence on clinical psychology and counselling. It believes individuals have free will rather than being influenced by external forces. It is optimistic as it assumes that people have the choice to choose their own destiny and they endeavour to achieve their potential for psychological growth within the confines of any individual limitations.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Along with the freedom of choice comes the responsibility of one’s actions which can make make people anxious but give others meaning of their lives. Existentialism came into existence during World War 2. Many authors like Franz Kafka and Albert…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The aim of this essay is to explore two counselling theories or theorists in depth, comparing and contrasting their background, theory of personality, theory of problems in living and theory of change. It is also necessary to assess their strengths and weaknesses as you see them and to evaluate which counselling situation that they would be most appropriate for. The two theories that I am going to discuss are the humanistic approach of person-centred therapy and the cognitive behavioural therapy approach of cognitive therapy. Carl Rogers agreed with the same main assumptions as Abraham Maslow but added that in order for a person to progress successfully they would require an environment that also gives genuineness, acceptance and empathy. He…

    • 2431 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Existentialism is a philosophical approach which emphasizes on the existence of an individual person as “a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will,” meaning that everyone has the freedom to develop how they want to as a person. This serves as a good explanation for evil in the world and is also a freeing belief when one feels confronted by questions of existence. This may also help those that suffer from existential depression, a condition which occurs to people that harbour a sense of hopelessness at believing that their lives may be meaningless. One can live with this easily in everyday life, because it is simply a way of looking at life. Though it serves as a philosophy to live life how one chooses, Existentialism is flawed in the fact that it covers very little else, and offers no help practical and psychological problems.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Humanistic psychology, like any other system in the field of psychology, has both support and criticism surrounding its concepts and practices. Humanistic psychology focuses on each individual person, their goals, their aspirations, their strengths and how they plan to use those strengths to ultimately (and hopefully) achieve self-actualization. That concept alone makes humanistic psychology multicultural because its techniques and principles can be applied to any type of client in a variety of settings. The hope is that humanistic psychology will continue to leave its mark on the field of…

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Studies found that cognitive behavioural therapy to be more effective than using a prescribed medication for a two-year period (Martin, 2007). These findings highpoint that cognitive behaviour therapy is not just an instant solution to emotional problems but that it’s an exceedingly effective learning experience which encourages real life long-term changes. In examining strengths and limitations of both therapies, I consider that the cognitive behaviour therapy is more effective for a number of reasons. Clients that present with the immediate cognitive, behavioural and emotional problems that are so disabling to their ‘existence in the world’, can affect them to experience overwhelming difficulty in engaging in existential-phenomenological therapy, such as gestalt, as their immediate and prodigious concerns can get in the way of such challenging types of treatment (Hickes & Mirea,…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays