Invitation to Existential Psychology

Book excerpt: Existential psychology examines how people deal with the biggest issues - such as finding meaning in life and facing death. It deals with many of the same problems as psychoanalysis and analytical psychology, but emphasises the view that one can understand the life of another by listening to their way of seeing existence and opening up their ‘phenomenal world’. As a therapeutic approach it is recognised by the British Psychological Society and taught on a number of courses. This introductory text discusses all the main contemporary theories of existential psychology, and illustrates them with case examples. Practical implications for clinical work are considered, and comparisons with other approaches such as humanistic psychotherapy are made throughout.