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Essay on Existentialism
Existentialism is, first, a philosophical position that has divergent thinkers within its ranks. This has made it difficult to clarify the practical usefulness of existentialism to psychological endeavors like counseling. Warnock (1970) noted that existentialism is more a series of thinkers who reflected on human existence than it is an integrated philosophy. Furthermore, authors who have translated existential concepts into an "existential psychology" often have done so at an abstract conceptual level rather than at a practical "what does the counselor actually do" level.
This abstractness has made it difficult to clearly distinguish counseling that is grounded in an existential perspective from counseling that is based on other theoretical frameworks. A notable exception to this trend is the work of Bugental (1987), who has worked for several decades to clarify the process and goals of an existentially oriented therapy. His most important work, The Art of the Psychotherapist (Bugental, 1987), provides a thorough development of the skills, communication processes, and value stances that are necessary for the counselor or therapist to work from within an existential-humanistic perspective.
There are at least three major misconceptions regarding the practical usefulness of an existential perspective in counseling. The first is characterized by the view that counseling or therapy, from an existential perspective, applies only to individuals who are already reasonably well-adjusted and psychologically healthy. A stereotypic way of referring to such individuals is that they are the "worried well." By definition, however, every person has an "existence." Existential thought has always been concerned with the question, "How shall I live?" given the fundamental conditions of life in which humans find themselves. More accurately, it can be asserted that each person answers the existential question of "how shall I live" by the way in which he or she constructs life day to day...................
