The therapy technique I chose for this paper is the Existential Therapy. Existential Therapy was the best technique for me to write about because the questions were most relevant for what is currently going on in my life. This theory is an intellectual approach to therapy and it explores what it means to be human. It mostly deals with questions such as "what is life about?" and "who am I?" It brings self-awareness to the person, while also realizing that with greater awareness comes greater possibilities for freedom. In this paper, I will discuss the technique description, how I applied this therapy to my life, and evaluate and analyze the existential therapy process.
Existential therapy is split into three main goals. The first stage or step is to assist clients in identifying assumptions about the world. This is mostly a reflection of the persons own existence and makes the person take responsibility for their own life role. The second step is examining present value system. This allows for new insights and new values. The third step is putting learning into action. This is when one would implement values in a concrete way. Two theoretical ideas that best describe the rational of the technique are self-awareness and the search for meaning. Self-awareness is the consciousness while living one’s life. It is important to know that time is limited and with greater awareness, comes greater possibilities for freedom. The concept of self-awareness means that we as humans are subject to loneliness, meaninglessness, emptiness, guilt, and isolation. It is important to seek meaning because it is not automatically given to us. We have the potential and the choice to act or not act upon awareness. This concept is important to this technique because it sees humans as having the space for self-awareness. This theoretical idea is mainly about experiencing tension between freedom and responsibility. It is supposed to guide people, so that they can reflect and make choices. This is important so we are capable of self-awareness and the more awareness, the greater our possibilities are for freedom. The second theoretical idea that explains the rationale of existential therapy is the search for meaning. The search for meaning brings a sense of significance into life. Existential really proves that life is not meaningful in itself. The individual must create and discover the meaning of life. This concept is important to the technique because meaningless in life means that life is empty and hollow. Values are the main foundation of a meaningful life. Existential therapy can provide the abstract framework for helping clients challenge the meaning in their lives. This concept is supposed to remind people that life can have meaning, but only if one accepts that there is meaning in their life.
In terms of being alive, I do not feel as alive as I really should feel. In my past experiences, I tend to limit myself when doing certain activities and this limits me from being fully alive. But when I have the chance, I feel most alive when I am with my best friend. He makes me feel like I can take a break from my normal life and just have fun. We enjoy going on long car rides and listen to music. We have been best friends for the past seven years, and I think I am most comfortable when I am around him. I can tell him anything without judgement and we can laugh until our stomachs start to cramp up. On the other hand, I feel least alive when I am cooped up in my house. For me, my home is a toxic environment for me. It is very small and cramped. Home is also where my parents are. Growing up as an only child, I highly looked up to my parents to guide me and teach me right and wrong. My mom did a great job in that department, but my dad did not. I suppose being around him makes me go into my shell and just hide in my room. My father is an alcoholic and is constantly looking for a new job. This man is probably the main reason why parts within me are dying and or, dead. He has never been an example for me and I have always wanted to go above and beyond so I do not become like him. He has caused major tension in my house and in my life. My father barely graduated high school and never went onto college. He has a very strong personality and if something does not go his way, then there is no other way. Being in that type of environment growing up has made me make decisions as he would. Knowing his background and what kind of a person it is, it kills me that I can find similarities between us. I feel as if I am trying to kill the part of him that I see in myself.
Since the beginning of high school to now, I feel as if a part of me has died. I am not as creative as I used to be and a part of my happiness has also died. I am not as creative anymore because I used to be able to come up with an idea on the spot and assignments and projects came easier to me. Now, I am very critical and picky with the end result of a project or anything that involves creativity. In terms of my happiness, I know that I am not happy with myself and I am not happy with some of the people in my life. Being a new transfer student, working two jobs, and carrying a full class load has put a lot of pressure on me and has had an effect on my life and on my mental health. This semester by far has been the hardest semester for college since I graduated from high school. One if the main ways that it has affected my life is my physical health. Since graduating, I have developed an unhealthy diet and have gained over fifty pounds. Because this happened, it has drastically changed the way I see myself and it has put a strain on my life and has affected my wellbeing.
I have also noticed that I prevent myself from experiencing life. I prevent myself from experiencing life by sticking to the bare minimum, instead of venturing out and trying new things. I tend to be a very careful person. My mom has always described me as shy, but very determined in everything that I do. But in a way, I think that is the reason why I prevent myself from experiencing life. I am always so focused on everything that I do, that I do not see the big picture of things. I need to stop and enjoy my life, instead of constantly working. Going to school full time and working two jobs takes a lot of determination and hard work. I believe that in order for me to truly experience life, I would need to drop one of my jobs and have some time to push myself out of my comfort zone. If I chose to live fully instead of settling for a half-life experience, I believe that I would be an all-around happier person. There would not be any fear of messing up, and no fear of being less than perfect. College is very competitive and it is extremely stressful to keep up with the crowd. For me to experience a new surge of vitality, I need to take time for myself and make myself happy before I do anything else for others. I would like to think that I have a heart for others, but I tend to lack a heart for myself. This semester will be the semester to finally get myself together and learn how to truly experience life.
After writing about the dying parts of me, I wanted to put my thoughts together and briefly write about what kind of a future that I want for myself. I see my future being very bright. I want a future that is full of love and happiness. After I graduate with a bachelor’s degree, I plan on obtaining a master’s degree in Gerontology. After I am finished with my schooling, I plan on taking a few months off from life and travel with my best friend across the country. Coming back from a few months off, I plan on getting a job in the field of Human Services that focuses on the elderly population. Hopefully finding a boyfriend somewhere in between that time, I would someday like to be married and start a family. It would be great to one day own a home of my own and have a stable job to keep my family afloat. I know that there will be some bumps in the road, but I am hoping that this dream could became a reality. Reviewing the dying parts of me gave me a new sense of how to live my life. There is more to life than what is happening right here and right now.
Two strengths of this technique would be that it is person-centered and it gives one the meaning of life. Focusing on the meaning of life makes the client really think about what they are doing in their life and what they can do to change the bad parts. For example, this therapy has taught me about the freedom, choice, and responsibility that I have in my life. My past does not determine how I am doing now. I also have the mindset know of improving myself and striving for greater achievements. This developed off of the suitable achievements that I have recently done to get to this point in my life. The strength of being person-centered allows the individual to highlight their value and dignity. Two weaknesses of this technique would be intellectualization and how it is based on philosophical concepts. Quite honestly, it was tough to pick two weaknesses. Out of all of the techniques I could have chosen, this has been my all-time favorite. Existential therapy is definitely not a direct approach therapy. It allows the person to sit in deep reflection and examine their life as a whole.
This therapy taught me a lot about myself and brought up a lot of topics that I would usually not talk about. I am actually glad that I was able to openly talk about some of the struggles that I have had in my life and what I am going to do to fix them. At the beginning of this paper, I was searching for the meaning of life and why it is so valuable to me. After critically evaluating my response, I found that life is not meaningful in itself and we give meaning to the experiences in our lives.