CALIFORNIA STATE
UNIV~RSITY
NORTHRIDGE
Humanistic Existentialism
A Philosophy of Individualism for Counseling
Report of a graduate project submitted in
partial fulfil111ent of
the degree of
¥JASTER OF ARTS
COUNSELING AND GUIDANCE
Pamela Deckert
ltugust 19,1972
the requirements for
Humanistic Existentialism
A Philosophy of Individualism
This paper will examine Humanistic Existentialism
by discussing exactly
place in
~;rhat
the universe.
it is and what it has to say about man 1 s
As the existential represenative of all
that is great and good there will be heavy emphasis on Jean-Paul
Sartre 1 s Sartrean psychology in an attempt to understand
this
so-called literature of possibility, psychology of consciousness,
ph ilosophy of insurpassable individualism.
tial
Also the unique existen-
approach to the client in a counseling situa:l:,ion vJill be dis-
cussed
and
seen as man for each other in an inescapable dealing
with reality and freedom.
recent awareness in
All of this will hopefully h eighten the
the past t1vo decades that
existentialism has
become a reality in all the countries in the western world.
is
expressed
penetrates
in all of
I feel it
the realm's of spiritual c reativity, it
all educated classes.
Humanistic Existentialism is not
the invention of a Bohemian philosopher or of a neurotic novelist;
it is not
It is
a morbid play
~;nth
negatives - it itself is something else.
the expression of the anxiety of meaninglessness and of the
attempt to take
this anxiety into the courage to be as oneself.
The existential attitude is one of involveraent in contrast to a
merely theoretical or detached attitude.
11
Existential 11 in this sense
can be defined as participating in a situation, especially a cogniti ve situation, with the \vhole ontological sense one has of his exisL~~~---~-~..~~---~--~~- -~-~---~---~~-~--~~---~---~-------~
-----~--~--~. ----- «---~
2
tence.
It is a philosophy of existence as instigated by Kierkegaard
1r1hen he broke a:tvay from Hegel.
Existential has had different definers
as Rollo Hay states in his book Existenc e,
about to mean everything from
some members of
11
The word has been bandied
the posturing defiant dilettantism of
the avant garde on the Left Bank of Paris to a
philosophy of despair advocating suicide, to a system of anti-rationalist thought."
Modern existentialism is usually dated from the work of
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), whose philosophy was a deeply religious
kind of moral individualism vThich was concerned vr.i. th
.!!r. venting
the
im-provement of society as a whole at the expense of the individual.
His most important contribution Has a concept Hhich has formed the
basis of existential thinking sine e his time- the phenomenological
approach.
This idea, contrary to most other philosophies discards
universals; it is not concerned
i~th
mankind in general but vvith the
imfuediate personal experience of one individual at a given time and
place.
This experience Kierkegaard views as a single phenomenon,
hence
the
fers
t o be called a Phenomenologist rather that than an Existentiali t.
term, "phenomenological approach. 11
Existentialism on
on
Sartre actually pre-
the humanistic side as I see it shall be based
that writer of books with such titles as The Flies and Nausea, •
The introduction to Nausea is also a witty and fitting
introduction to Sartre as he was first,and still is by some, seen.
11
Existentialism entered the J\Jnerican consciousness like an elephant
entering a dark room: there was a
good deal of breakage and the peopl
3
inside naturally mistook the nature of the intrusion.
vH1at -vmuld it
be? An engine of destruction perhaps, a tank left over from the war?
After a Hhile
the
lights
were turned on and it was seen to be "Only'
an elephant; evelJTOne laughed
must be passing
through town.
\vas here to stay; and
vras indeed
a
and
said that a circus (GOP Convention
But no, soon they found the elephant
then looking closer, they smv that although he
ne~vcomer,
an odd-looking one
stranger: they had kno-vm him all along.
fellow Sartre.
a hoax. 11
11
And his leader, was this
nonsense, they concluded, a fad and very likely
Yet Sartre picked up Hhere the others left off.
carried
through
analyses
~vi thout
become
~Vhat
11
at that, he was not a
the consequences of Heidegger 1 s
mystical restrictions.
11
Sartre
existentialist
This is the- reason he has
the symbol of present-day existentialism, a position which is
deserved not so much by
the originality of his basis concepts as by
the radicalism, consistency and psychological adequacy vJi th l'fhich he
has
carried
them
through.
I refer above all to his proposition
that 'the essence of man is his existence.' This sentence is like a
flash of light Hhich illumina tes the v.rhole existentialist scene.
could call it
in
the most despairing and
all exisentialist literature.
essential nature of
of
I
I
!
I
himself vJhat he
to him
11
man,
~.;rants.
excc~pt
shou~d-be 11 ,
makes it.
it says is that there is no
in the one point
f1an creates what he is.
the "ought-to-be 11 ,
Han is
the most courageous sentence
~Vhat
to determine his creativity.
-
One
that he
can make
Nothing is given
The essence of his being- the
is not something which he finds; he
1-vhat he makes of himself.
And the courage to be
!. -·~-~~---------------~-~·-~~-~-~~-~-~----~--~---~-~-------~~~-~-~--~-~---~--~~~-~-~~~----------~--~-
4
as oneself is
the courage to make of oneself what one uants to be. 11 1 •
"For almost a century now, prevailing psychologies and
the literature 1vritten under their influence have
cherish
the illusion of
heredity, by
freedom while being in fact determined by
environment,
and by early childhood experiences.
Humanistic Existentialism challem.ges
exactly the reverse is
fearing
fuse
this doctrine and claims that
true: every man is free, but most men,
the consequences
and
the responsibilities of freedom, re-
to acknowledge its presence in
to others
agreed that men
themselves
and would deny it
u
• 2·
the
I feel
times. The
existential mood is the temper of our
existentialist is not
and humanistic
the only one to ask 1\·Jhat is 1'-'Ian?'
existentialism has not yet found its Freud.
But
contemporary empirical psychology and writers have reinforced the
Sartrean stance on man's ethical dilemma, his despair, anguish,
freedom, and metaphysical and psychological possibilities.
Yet before
I plunge more deeply into this No-Exit author, it is important to
clarify what
branding
the popular
term 1 humanistic 1 is
of humanism seems
humanism Fromm points out
sufficient as
There lies
an explanation.
In defini g
the very peculiarity of his
also the key to Humanistic Psychoanalysis •••
the most pmv-erful forces motivating
condition of his
Eric Fromm's
that man 1 s greatest needs and passions do
not spring from his biology but from
existence.
to mean.
existence,
man's behavior stem from the
the human situation.
Human existence and freedom are from
11
inseparable.
For by
the beginning
the self-consciuusness which man has, Nhich is
identical vdth his power
to choose, man is removed from the oneness
vJith nature Nhich the other animals enjoy.
He lacks
their instinctu
guarantees; he must determine his mm destiny both as an individual an
Philogeny recapitulates ontogeny.
as
grandeur is
at
the
same
Jvlan t s dark
time his despairing crushing fate.
dom is opportunity, responsibility, choice and insecurity.
istic existentialist denies there is sucn
nature
in the Hegelian
a
sense or even in
At
is infinitely malleable 1 for
an
admission
the coramon sense of the
tialists should
fe~
analysis - yet such
freedom
that
the existentialist recognizes that such
which 1rmuld be
No
Exit,
no
to deny all human freed om.
reason why all humanistic existen-
bound by the principles
a justification in
of Sartrean psycho-
a general way is plausible,
not the existential situation give first place to
of
theme
Stranger
It isn't NICE
the same time he denies that human nature
There naturally is
does
11
would be equivalent to sa ying that men can be manip-
ulated ·without limit,
for
The human-
thing as a fixed human
maxim 11 you can 1 t change human nature" or maybe even
to fool Nother Nature! 11
Free-
the
the inaividual person and who more resoundingly conveys
than Sartre.
and The Plague.
Nausea,
It is
Albert Camus is a poor
second vdth The
Sartre offers Being and Nothingness,
and so on.
held
throughout
this paper that man is capable
of change and capable of bringing this change about himself, provided
6
he is aided in his
searc h
for
change.
ualism being examined is founded
man, himself,
the
on the deep belief I have that it is
who eventually defines himself •
meaningful
of
Value systems become
ref lections of h0i·1 men either shoulder or reject the burden of
freedom to struggle toward self-definition.
ist,
This philosophy of individ-
the
Han himself must find a
>·my to live in a meaningless universe.
greatest creative
his ov.m good.
That is
act of
a person's life is the creation
and meaning.
The existentialist respects
a
the exisential
the invention of a system of values by
which he gives his life form
to act as
For
free individual. Sartre
another 1 s ability
believes a person
does not
possess a ready-made character formed by heredity, environmental pressures and
This
developed in accordance
is one
the libido.
deviation from orthodox psychananlysis and the concept of
As
hov-r disgusting
obtuse ones,
with strict psychological laws.
Fritz
Perls stated in Gestalt Therapy Verbatim,
were those 1dth 1 character 1 , for they vrere the rigid
ahmys
conforming to the character that they were.
Sartrean philosophy, psychology, literature, and exi~ntial
psychoanalysis is postured on the belief that man is not determined b
passions Hhich sweep over him like external forces.
feelings - like
his
every one
seemingly trivial
way he has
decided
His emotions, his
of his values, attitudes, and postures;
gestures and
comments
to relate himself
to
the
are
the
result of
>vorld around him.
Ma n is indeed his ov.m biographer, his own raconteur of past and futur
7
tales, his ovm agent - his own damning responsible person vlith responsibilities and uncom fortable rreedom of
name is
freedom - hell is not in
choice.
Anxiety thy
the next world.
Jean- Paul Sartre 1 s main belief regarding 11 1e Homme" is
that he is
free at
any time to make
choose a fresh way of living
so-called nature.
there is free
a new choice of himself - to
out his existence and to re-make his
There is said to be no inevitable action , but
dec ision - there is,of course, no exit. "Freedom is
existence and in it existence preceded essence.!' The free choice Ivhich
4
man mal{es
of
c alled his
himself is
absolutely identical -.vith wha t is generally
destiny. In his novels,refusing to depict characters
determined by heredity and
the spirit of
existentialism.
1·1ersault killed
he SHOULD have
cryed and
of
demands a reason
a meaningless existence -
doing
at all what is
didn 1 t cry at his mother 1 s funeral -
therefore he
the
Sartre epitomized
So did Albert Camus. In 1 1 E'tranger,
the Arab and
murder of the Arab. And
mind which
enviromaent , Jean-Paul
~vas
condemned
to die for the
character Roquentin in Nausea has a
and a meaning, yet he is in the midst
the
reslut an impasse, nausea , and not
expected.
Freedom is not a propositioh to be proved but
be experienced •
sence, a pure
It is not human
the lack of es-
existence which is and vrhich makes its objective histor
by its choices
in
are what makes
freedom possible.
fillment,
essence, for it is
a fact to
the
world. "Obstacles do not prevent freedom; they
If wish 1\Tere synonymous with ful-
than there would be no distinction between dream and realit •
8
If
freedom is
.hoose,
Ither.
and
to be meaningful
at
all, it must be a freedom to
choice demands alternative possibilities which limit each
The resistance
freedom
that
of
the
world outside
for.ms its projects.
Sartre
us is
go~s
the material out
into infinite detail
ivhatever may be my facticity(my factual limits of tim e,
space, physical streng th, external events about me) it is I who deter·ne its signifigance, its meaning
For
evidence
experience.
•and it is
an
1
of
for me,
and its place in my life. 11
this freedom, Sartre
I encounter my experience in anguish,' he says,
the world the one llllsure
element,
cannot
grasp nor pred ict, is my Self. And there is
before
the
future
cannot forsee.'
the one thing I
the
anguish
as I make plans which will involve a Ivle whom I
Here, I
am instantly reminded of a short story Sartre
vJrote about a French glass vender.
In
the
with his load of gleaming glass sheets; high
1-Jindow, a man vmtched the vender.
street
the vender vmlked
above in an apartment
Thinking of the sound
that glass
as it smashes, the man dropped a pot of geraniums onto the
sheets of
glass and
enjoyed the sounds and sensations of the mo-
ments impulse.
11
There is in
out pride in ourselves
be
rid of
5
anguish which grips me whenever I suddenly realize that
in my projects in
makes
appeals to each
as
all of us a constant tension bet1veen
a free consciousness and our longing to
the burden of individuality. To lose ourselves is at once
our greatest fear
and most seductive temptation." 6 •
It is hard to
f'=--•-
-"·----·<L -~-~-~~·~·r~~~·-~~----··~~·~ ~0~~-~>'u••~~-·>r~~·-·~--~~-·~•••- ~~"-•"-•~~~--~·~-~-~~-~~==~~-~~~~~-~--~~~ -• -=~~~~ ~-•~---"·~---
I
9
accept the
responsibilities of Being-for-itself.
It is so much
simpler ( or is it?) to be Eric Fronnn•s 11Market Personality" or Selffor-others, living as
iates expect.
1
you
desire me to live 1 , doing 1mat one 1 s assoc-
Most men are only too happy
to be
How many people are 1-vai ters instead of a man
In Escape From Freedom, Fronnn states
You
yourself
are what
to experienc e
you want
never truthfully say
Bl
'l'here is only one meaning of life;
to be.
You are what you alloiv
within your own reality boundaries.
freedom is asserted even in
e
v.rho 1-vaits on tables ?
act of living itself. 11
the
to
11
the part they play.
that
the face of his own feelings.
an
chooses the manner and
will live
In relationship to this
lso is
determined
aused by
asic
At
Sartre
which
concept, prejudic '
the experience.
responsible for hliaself
the very
degree in
feels prejudice is not necessaril
experienc e, it determines
being
-orld.
by man.
He can
emotion sweeps over him and compels him
certain acts, rather he
emotionally.
Man's
Han tries to
and his views of
the
heart of HUlllanistic Existentialism is the person'
choice of himself and
the proposed preoccupation with it.
No perusal of existentialism is complete >vithout
;:woring a bit
etween
of
the
absurd.
man's aspirations
te,
it
The
and his
absurd being
himself within it.
The discrepancy
possibilities, and
external justification of man
may be, man
11
and
to the lack of
his projects. 11
7
cannot choose his age - but he must choose
Han must make himself fully responsible for his
10
destiny. From The M,yth of Sisyphus, here is Albert Camus -
"~en,
tooJsecrete the inhuman. At certain moments of lucidity, the mechanic 1
aspect of
their gestures,
everYthing
behind
their m.eaningless
that surrounds
them. A man is
tal~ing
on the telephone
a glass partition ; you cru1not hear him, but you see his in-
comprehensible dumb show: you
in
pantomine makes silly
the
wonder why he is alive. This discomfort
face of man's m·m inhmnanity, this incalculable tumble befor
the image of
what
we
are, this
11
nausea 11 , is
also the absurd•"s
The
absurd is born ostentiously of the conflict bet,;.reen human need
and
the
unreasonable silence of
In
himself.
the 11orld.
summation, it is tV\en, himself, who eventually defines
If men could only see that!
Value systems become
the
reflections of men either shouldering or rejec ting the burden of
freedom to struggle toward self-definition.
The very process of
searching is curative. As Paul Tillich stated,
1
It takes courage to
be.•
It certainly takes courage to be responsible for 110rking
out one's o"tm destiny and
this is
what the client must do in
psychotherapy that is used as a humanistic existentialistic encounter
"The
essential task of
accept the
awesome
all therapy is
to enable man to act and to
freedom and responsibility for
action. Although
in its origins,
existentialism described the condition of modern man
rather than his
therapy, it alone addresses itself directly to the
feelings
of loneliness and alienation, which incapacitates man and
disallow his
action.
Even in its application in therapy, the exis-
11
tential approach concentrates upon the philosophical assumptions
underlying
this
therapy, rather than upon "the technique of therapy! In
sense,
the
existential approach to therapy deserves a unique
treatise: it does not involve 'unique contributions to treatment,' as
much
as it involves a philosophical base for man in his
human
relationships that satisfy.
approaches,
the
the
eY~stential
Of all the major therapeutic
approach alone focuses exclusively upon
c rucial questions concerning the nature of
are stimulating."
attempt at
man. It 1 s answ·ers
Existentialism fills a very real treatment void
0
/•
left behind by
centered
the Freudian, behavoristic, and trait - and-factor
approaches to counseling
and psychotherapy.
develops in response a core of basic human values
questions and
1<Thich are not developed in other forms of
The plot of
therapy, it is
is
to
therapy.
Sartre's novels is similar to such existential
ancillary to
the metaphysical question.
many reasons
that
tion 11 Hho
his
Am
trying
"G
I ? 11
'l'he man
He is attempting
to answer the ques-
discovering himself senses the futility
o avoid in any Hay engaging or committing his freedom.
the sense of
anguish 1·rith Hhich a man first realizes that
freedom is absolute
and inescapable.
"Bad .!!'ai th 11 concept by i-Thich man tries
for himself.
There are
a man becomes a client and there is only one reaso
that a man b ecomes a client.
'Jfuere is
Its purpose
serve as a framework \-Ji thin which human possibilities may be
developed and a ma n 1 s choice of himself made evident.
of
It asks basic
The life of
And there follo1.rs Sartre 1 s
to escape being
responsible
everyone of us is a punsuit of self.
12
ails many is
~~~~hat
and what makes
their attempt to avoid responsibility
them i'rell is helping them assume such personal
responsibility. 11 10 •
In
counseling it is important
fundamental basis of character is
ways a person relates himself to
living,
man relates himself
ilating things
On man
true
and
that a man
him we
necognize
by
the
remains
shall
them by
In
the process of
·world by a cquiring and assim-
himself to
~eople
and himself.
11
that
escapes u:s and
But
that there is in
that there is somethin s
PRACTI~LLY
their behavior, by the
It is probably
I knoi'r men
and
totality of their deeds,
consequences caused in life by their presence. Like-vdse, all
which offer no purchase to analysis. I can
them PRACTICALLY, appreciate
together the
sum of
ligence, by seizing
universe.
A man
contaihed in
the
the domafum of the intel-
and noting all their aspects, by outlining
defines
Horld and
existentialisttic
their
himself by his make-believe as well as by hi
last pages of a book are already
first pages. Such a linlc is inevi table. 11
I feel that
standing their
them PRACTICALLY, by gathering
their consequences in
sincere impulses. Similarly, the
The
world.
forever unknoim to us and
never know.
those irrational feelings
define
the specific kinds of
character Albert Camus comments
him something irreducible
about
the
to the
and by relating
his
seen in
to remember that the
11
•
all individuals require help in underthemselves in relation to this world.
encounter is man's attempt to meet head-on
13
the
question of what it means to be human.
In the therapeutic
relationship there is interest not in seeing hoH the present has
been
determined by the past, but in perceiving hm-r
the act before
us is outlining the pattern of an imminent future. The past is meaningful only in terms of
the present.
that
the
the signifigance the person gives it in
The counselor does not believe vdth the Behaviorists
explanation for human conduct is mere
nor does he accept the
great
response to stimuli,
explanatory idols of our time-
education, environment and physiological constitution.
The existentialist counselor does
the
patient's own
For
analysis
to be helpful there nmst be some distinction in the
a-1-vareness.
sness
The client may be
and knowing.
fully
the
present
11
KnovJledge
Sartre differentiates between conscio
the
.
/
conscJ.Du..s of what he does, ye
aware or knmdng or comprehending the relationship betvJeen
act occurring in
demands
reflection.
the hour session and past ones.
Self-consciousness I have ahrays;
self-knowledge demands both deliberate
To
at face value
account of himself, his symptoms or his history.
s ubj ect' s level of
not
not truce
degree
non-reflectively,
that I have in my
e1Tort and intellectual acumen.
earlier life
to let myself be fascinated and
chosen
absorbed by the
objects of my own consciousness, I i·Jill find it difficult
lish
the
which
I
necessary connections
have made in the
my future.u 12 • The task of
IL ...
to live
and signifigance of
to estab-
those choices
past and by which I run now determining
the existential psychoanalyst is less that
--~~-~-~----~~~---- ..~-- ....~.·-·~~-~-~--~-~-~---
lh
of
the
guide
that of
the
who points
teacher who
nection between
the
way to hidden treasure and more
tries to make
tw·o ideas
which
are already before him.
Self-analysis is not
dom
for everyman, but it is
never
full
himself
This
communication
apart
such import.
the
tempered 1dth
betl~Teen
the concept of
Both Sartre
unconscio~B
Sartre
in
the
the
men, yet no man can come to know
d evelop his po1-rers 'd thout them.
the degree of self-avmreness is of
and Freud agree on this - Freud calling it
patient
real motives
Eric
who may lie and not realize it;
Fromm
for doing
of mere 'adjustment' as
yst and
feel
that
In compliment
there is
to
further
to
wallow in
doing
and how it
It is
-.use also to be
to be
let
for the anal-
such a thing as a npathology of normal-
that and not enough.
appear pathetic enough
self-disclosure.
client
the legitimate goal
this stance, the counselor may often see the
expected reaction as just
crys in order
something.
and Jean-Paul Sartre have questioned the
concept
the
the belief that there is
calls it Bad Faith, meaning the patient, is not aware of ration
alizing away
cy."
ruled out v.rith a basis of free-
from other men, nor
>~Th1:/
is
the student see the con-
The
times the client
to avoid going on into
existentialist counselor does not let
self-pity, he lets the
relates
l~y
to hoH she
client see what she is
avts in
aware oill silences.
the outside v.rorld.
They are important enough
alone. And Kierkegaard once wrote
11
The surest of stubborn
silences is not to hold one 1 s tongue but to talke 11
15
Existentialism has often been attacked as a philosophy
that degrades man,
and the existential
counselor is most usually
seen as unsy!npathetic to man 1 s pretensions.
former is not.
and
It is a philosophy of 1 you are
really, if you
something
The latter is
about it.
.-ranted to be
be impossible to find a
philosophy and a psychology that goes further in
responsibilities or his
uation honestly.
his mm
destiny,
dignity if
you want to be,
someplave else you would do
Yet it 1muld indeed
1
~rt1ere
true, the
he is
asserting man 1 s
idlling to face his sit-
The client is entirely responsible for working out
for
every man is entirely reuponsible for himself.
Freud and traditional psychoanalysis had much to state
about defence mechanisms
and
so
does Sartre.
genius is ovhat a man invents 'tvhen he is
The humanistic existential counselor feels
able to face
the
projects
are
the position is
all
great a strain to accept sole
takes
refuge in
so
structured and
way out.
that man generally is un-
this: that man cannot bear
the values he lives by, his purposes, his
sustained by his o-vm
he
looking for a
truth about himself and seeks various modes of
escape. trEssentially,
the realization that
Sartre has said
free choice; he finds it too
responsibility for his life. Therefore,
the belief
that somehow the external world is
so orderly that it guarantees the worth of its
objects; it provides specific tasks which have to be done ; it demands
of
each person a definite
way of living which is the RIGHT one.
A very catholic stance it is.
\r-Jhether god, nature or a transcendent
L_ ~-~- , --~~~~~-~~~---"~--~~~~~-----~--~~~-----~--~-~---------~~~--~~--~~ -------------~--- --------------------- -----~J
16
society is
responsible,
a serious w·orld. 11
13
According
In
the order oft hings is absolute.
It is
this last quotation Sartre 1 s jest is evident.
to Sartre, man, if he honestly reflects, cannot
help realizing that his
situation is like
a game. Herein consists the
that of the player of
absurdity of existence.
Life has the
same
value as a game - that is, v.rhatever value the players choose to
give
it.
of
One has
rules.
to play the game, but one is never given a book
For humanistic existentialism, of course, man 1 s absurdity
and insecurity stem
standard of
although
an
and whip. t
about
of
the
fact
to be
some do appear to
Nan is
whatever he
no
ultimate~
come Hith directions tjust add
always constantly making himself, always
chooses.
These beliefs
are at the crux
two most fundamental and most distinctive prin-
ciples of existential psychoanalysis
free
and
choice,
frequently
himout of
Mant s
is
there is
counseling.
The
is
that
referenve. Han is not endowed Hith a ready-made self or
nature,
egg
from
the
are the belief that man is
the rejection of the unconsciuus.
The
essence of man
and it is stated by some Phenomenologists that it is
the
the
patient• s fear of the
fu:bu:be Hhich brings
destiny is of his o1m
way his past will come to
the patient to
choosing.
the analyst.
The only meaning in L .. fe
act of living it.
Nan suffers
himself in the
future, nor
from anxiety because he
cannot pred ict
escape it, yet he must make choices
affecting
it.
humanistic
Han's failure to choose is in itself a choice.
existentialist counselor's primary concern is -vti.th the
uniqueness of
the particular individual in front of him in the
immediate here and nov.r.
~·Jhat
between
counselor is reality; therein lies its
the client
therapeutic value.
of
and
occurs, what work is clone, v.rhat happens
The counselor vrorks -vJith the client on a number
things: one, habit patterns which distort reality and
the
client must
freedom and
free
himself. T1·ro, the client learns
to make his
to see
on is
a human reality and
a
rather
than being in the vmy of
beginning of potential grmrth. Fourth, self-
and self-consciousness in
client
to confront
that suffering, anxiety, being uncomfortable and so
growth it can be
the
fromwhich
choices consciously. Three, the client
begins
pity
The
trusting
his
ov.m
a preoccupying
perception of
v.ray are replaced by
reality, his mm
commitments and values that he has selected because he is beginning
to knoH who he is.
The un derlying question in all of couneeling is
the
11
~vho? 11
in
11
~-Jho
question himself.
clef ined,
view of
a m I? 11 • And
If
each man must deal with that
the existential counselor seems guilty of a
rigid approach, that may be a valid criticism.
An over-
five common, although not m1qualifiecl dimensions of the
existential
Man, 1;1hose
approach in
sense of
relation to therapy can be stated as follows:
self is
developed
through his rela teclness to
others, doesn't know himself except in relation to others. Han's
18
principal source of anxiety is his fear of losing others and being
alone.
Han• s
real guilt is
that he cannot act because of his
"other-directed" development. }ian must face the
for only he has
And
last of
to accept
In
the responsibilities for acting upon his choices.
al.l, the task of
the
freedom
a
and
existential
process involves
rather
than
fact that he is alone
therapy is to
enable man to act and
responsibility for acting.
counseling, most often
the communication
analyzing the existential meaning of human experienc
the
direet expression of experience.
TI1e process is
highly verual transaction emphasizing words about feelings. The
counselor
to
analyzes as
client acts, but
the counselor also acts'
expose his own being. In an existential encounter, the counselor
and
client validate
The
both
to employ
both
the client
existence. The
to each other.
approach offers both client
and therapist
an honest, human encounter and an opportunity for
themselves fully.
The existential approach offers
and counselor a well-developed cosmology for his
client with no direction and meaning in life may acce
and incorporate
makes
each other by reacting
existential
an opportunity for
as
the
an
existential philosophy. The
existential approach
explicit values which are left implicit in other approaches sue
the
emphasis upon
the ultimate
responsibility of
the client
for active decision-makin g. The existential approach allm-rs for a
more
free
and spontaneous interaction bet-vmen client and therapist
by rninlinizing
The
the
eY~stential
definition of roles for both therapist and client.
approach comes
the closest to defining free man.
19
The
human~sitic
existentialist believes the only
Hay that persons can attend to
the problems of their lives is to
choose
to attend in an
by
to attend, and
the
therapist
bad faith
be helped
and by other group members
explicit fashion
to how they act in
by becoming oblivious to themselves, by dividing themselves,
by choosing not
to look.
The existentialist believes, in
the
safest position of
He and
I
there is
all is
am less interested in
no
to
end to problems, than in persons • assumption of respontheir
aw·areness of
the n<it:bure of their
clarified and seen
11
taldn g
about their projects
business.
sincere 11
their lives seriously,
and
The humanistic
\Jllhat persons
their
choose to
their priorities, once they have been
none of the counselor's
existential counselor has no essentialistic
11
creati~el~
~ersons
and productively
there'~
of responsible knowledge is
freer,
every moment of authentic
integrity is
awareness,
gained -for
the
~i.Lth
can liberally live their
the knoHledge that they bear
their self-definition, that
does not lie somewhere 'out
of
and in
v alues to inculculate save one very general one : real-
total responsibility for
for
reality.
by themselves, may be
being, honesty, authenticity.
lives
stand -vdth one 1 s eyes idde open.
the solution to problems, because
sibility, in
do
the ultimate sense,
and
that a life
their identity
~dth
and less false.
this kind
--- fu'1.d that
responding, a quantum of personality
every moment of duplicity, bad faith,
divided self is maintained. 11
14 •
~--------
20
In conclusion, for the humanistic existentialist,
man identifies vJi th
the glance,
vdth it
freedom, man is freedom, freedom is man.
the apperception of
anguish.
With
And
this, the true condition, brings
freedom as man's foundation there is nothing
that can excuse man, nothing external to him upon which he can rely
to
guide his life. Sartre stated in Nru1sea, "The destiny of small
men is
alHays working itself out a
Even man's decision to succomb to
his
choice.
dom
a man has -
few inches above
their heads."
the leadership of another remains
Sometim es suicide may represent the last bit of freethe
sense, cond e1nned
freedom to choose vJhen he dies.
to freedom and to struggle vdth
1>~Ian
is in a
the undulating
ambiguity of his life, his finiteness, his inescapable subjectivity
and
the outside
other 11 as a threat to his o-vm potential creativity.
11
lVIan 1 s basic struggle
this
~v.ith
and
freedom ,
anxiety to deny his
a client has
know?"
he
and in
said
11
the
seen as an
face of
attempt to deal
the attendant
ang~ish
freedoms by numerous maneuvers.
I don't know. 11 I
say,
11
Hany times
\'>Jhat• s behind the 'I don't
The attempt to deny his human condition, and to deny that
denies,
bring him to
are
seen as those
the session.
events whose consequences tend to
Symptoms
and transf ormations of very bas ic
goals of
is
are
seen, largely, as denials
ontological realities.
The
the humanistic existential therapy sessions are to help the
person come into awareness,
his integrity, his
to be in reality, and
absolute reponsibility for
to help him regain
the projects he has
--~~~--~~~-
..
,-~------ >•---~------·---·-----~---~-----~---~-~-·-- ·----~--------~--~-~-----------~.
- . --------1
~-
I
21
freely created,
in which he
and the price which he chooses to pay for
~rrites
the way
his biogra phy on this earth.
It is customary to say that the principal Existentialist
philosophers of our t:ime are Hartin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Gabriel
Marcel,
as
and of
diverse
course, Sartre.
as Jose" Ortega,
been influenced
by the
But many others, including thinkers
Hartin
Buber,
and A.N. whitehead have
main factors of Existentialist concern.
In literature many, or even most, of
the chief modern authors have
been consci, sly or not, Existentialists; certainly there is evidence
of this in Unamuno,
for
the first
Lawrence, H esse, Camus and Faulkner.
time to the
reading, on pape after page,
viorks of Sartre or
~J o~r.n
thoughts
with fantastic preeision and concreteness.
philosophy, as a matter of
is often like
and feelings expressed
Existentialism is a
fact, because it has
adumbrated by men trained in
also more
Gar!lUS
Coming
been lengthily
the philosophical disciplines; but it is
i'undarnentally a shift in ordinary human attitudes that has
altered every aspect of li fe in our present day civilization.
Existentialism has
dark room
the dimensions of the intruding elephant in the
or china closets of so many minds.
J .241
I like a look of agony
Because I know it 1 s true;
Men do not sham convulsion,
Nor simulate a throe.
The eyes glaze once, and that is
death.
Impossible to feign
22
The beads upon the forehead
By homely anguish strung.
1890
Err.ily Dickinson
Tell all the Truth but tell it slant Success in Circ uit lies
Too bright for our infmrm Delight
The Truth 1 s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
ll[i th explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind1891
Emily Dickinson
Jlm suffocating: existence penetrates me ever;yi<There.
through the eyes, the nose, the mouth ••••••••
And suddenly, suddenly, the veil is torn away, I have
understood, I have SEEN.
11
The Nausea has not left me and I don 1 t believe it
1dll leave me soon; but I no longer have to bear it, it is
no longer an illness or a passing fit; it is I. 11
1938
Nausea
Jean-Paul Sartre
23
Footnotes
1. Paul
Tillich, 'l'he Courage to Be,p.149, 150,1966 •
2.Hazel E. Bdrnes, Humanistic Existentialism, p.3,1970 •
3.Hazel E. Barnes, Ibid., p.87.
4.Hazel E.
Barnes, Ibid.,p.284 •
5.Hazel E.
Barnes, Ibid., p.284 •
6. Hazel E.
Barnes, Ibid., p.308 •
7. Erwin Singer, Key
Concepts~
Psychotherapy,p.23 1970 •
8. Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisy~hus~.11,p.21, 1955 •
9. Robert R. Carkhuff, Bernard G. Berenson, Beyond Counseling
and Therapy, P• 77, 78, 1967 •
10.Ervdn Singer, Op.Cit., p. 12
•
11.Albert Camus,op. Cit., p.9 •
12.Hazel E.
Barnes, Op. Cit., p.308.
13.Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea,p.49, 1938.
lL~.Robert R. Carkhuff, Bernard G. Berenson, Op.Cit.,p.20,21.
The Bibliography
Barnes, Hazel E.,
Humanistic Existentialism, University of
Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska,l970
Buber, Martin,
I and Thou,Charles Scribner's Sons, Ne'tv York,
NeH York, -1970 - -
Camus, Albert,
New
The Myth of Sisyphus, Vintage Books, Nmv- York
--
York,-r9~
The Stranger, Vintage Books, NevJ York, Ne'tv
York, 19.53
Car~1uff,
Robert R., Berenson, B ernard G., Beyond Counseling and
Therapy, Holt , Rinehart and \vinston, 1967
Kierkegaard, Soren,
Fear and Trembling and the Sickness Unto
Death, PL·inceton University Press; Princeton, NewJersey, 1970
Laing, R.D.,
Self and Others, Pelican Books, Baltimore,
Hd., 1971
The Divid ed Self, Pelican Books, Baltimore,
Md., 196.5The Politics of Experience,Ballantine Books,
NeH York;-1967
Existence, Basic Books, Ne't-v York, NmJ York,
J'.1ay, Rollo,
19.58
Ofman, tvilliam,
Psychotherapy ~ ~Humanistic Existential
Encounter, USC BookStore, 1970.
Perls, Fritz,
Gestalt Therapy Verbatim, Real People Press,
Lafayette, California, 1969
Sartre, Jean Paul,
No Exit and Three Other Plays, Vintage Books,
New York-;- Ne"tv York, l9b7 - - - The \'Jords, Fawcett Publications, Nei·J York,
New York,-r964
L_
Bibliography (continued)
Sartre, Jean Paul,
Being and Nothingness, Philosophical
Library, New York, Nevr York, 1964
Nausea, Ne1v Directions Publishing,
New York, NevJ York, 1964
Singer, EnTin,
Tillich,
Key Concepts In Psychotherapy,
Basic Books Of Random House,NeH York, 1970
Paul
Press, New
Van Kaam, Adrian,
The Courage To Be, Yale University
Haven, Connecticu~1966
Counseling From The Viewpoint 6f
Existential Psychology, 11 GuMeliD:es for Guidance,
Ni.lliam c. Brmm Co., Dubuque, Iowa, 1966
11