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Nietzsche’s echo–A dialogue with Thomas Altizer Journal of Religion and Health, 49(1), 118-37 Retrieved November 21, 2010, from ProQuest Religion
Introduction
Rollo May (1904-1994) was born in Ada, Ohio and grew up within the north Midwest in an anti-intellectual way of life where conformity was valued and academic pursuits had been devalued (Berecz, 2009; Bugental, 1996). It should have been a struggle for Might to achieve his Athenian ambitions in this type of local weather, and it seems plausible which is later on hypotheses with the dialectic pressure had some basis in his personal childhood familial conflicts. Could was specifically delicate to a rapidly changing technological society and the special anxiousness of his fellow man’s disenfranchisement from his work due to a depersonalizing industrial, factory economy (Berecz, 2009). Thus the thesis of this paper, which can be that the existential psychotherapy for which May possibly would ultimately become canonized is meaningful only in the context of postmodernism, and would likely not have already been conceived or relevant before the 20th Century.
One way to explain existential psychotherapy is by thinking of it as a grand psychosocial stage, in the tradition of Erikson, which poses that each successive stage is not so much ordinal as it is rational; not just a nominal next step, but functionally dependent upon the stages that preceded it. Hence, existential psychotherapy was built on the psychologies that came before it, and was not independent of them. Furthermore, existential psychology was a direct response to a promptly changing lifestyle, one in which its human constituents failed to adapt at the same pace as the demands of social change.
Growing up
May’s mother was said to have often left the children to fend for themselves, leaving he, the eldest sibling, with a burden of responsibility (Bugental, 1996). Also, May’s family moved often due to his father’s job as a YMCA secretary, and this impacted Rollo’s ability to establish lasting friendships (Bugental, 1996). In this brief biography, we see the kernel of May’s later on emphasis on the humanistic psychology axiom of personalized responsibility (Berecz, 2009). We may possibly also see in his early history the affect of being adrift without a moral compass or an emotional support structure. This making your very own way loneliness epitomizes the phrase existential anxiety. As an adult, May possibly would need to overcome another trial, that of tuberculosis at a time when there was no cure (Berecz, 2009). Could was married three times, and fathered three children from his first marriage (Bugental, 1996).
These adversity is crippling to weaker personalities, but May found centeredness and maintained optimism in spite with the cards dealt to him (Berecz, 2009). In his unrelenting rise to prominence through single-minded determination we see demonstrated May’s concepts of will and intent, which will be discussed in a later on section. Though May was fascinated by the subjects of despair, anxiety, and suicide, he coupled this interest with a resolve to discover their solutions (Berecz, 2009). May possibly kept sight of the virtue of optimism, and the theme of courage would be a recurring one in his work (May perhaps, 1975; Cunningham, 2007). Later, May possibly would confess that humanistic psychology, in particular as it related to Maslow and Rogers failed to incorporate the problem of evil (Hoffman, 2009).
In May’s humanistic psychology we find the importance of mediation of opposites. As his last wife Georgia said, “Whenever I think of one of Rollo’s traits, I soon think of its opposite also being true.” (Bugental, 1996, p.1). May was the most conscientious of psychologists, with a genuine interest in relieving the suffering resulting in the peculiar nature with the 20th Century, and was particularly troubled by violence (May, 1972).
A close dependency from the inner to the outer is thematic throughout May’s psychology. The personality exists on the leading edge of the consciousness of self with its relationship to society (Berecz, 2009, May well, 1972). The dyad of consciousness and society was made into a triad by establishing a relationship together with the cosmic (Schneider, 2009).The ability to center one’s ego between the consciousness of existence and also the consciousness of society permitted the virtue of courage to emerge, and in particular that most important form of courage, the courage to create (Might, 1975).
In a 1987 interview with Schneider, Galvin, and Serlin (2009), May credited the influences of Freud, Jung, Fromm, Adler, Sullivan, and Rank. May’s 1959 monograph, The Courage to Create (Could, 1975) drew extensively from Greek mythology, philosophy, and western literature. Acknowledging these antecedents validated the foundations of existential psychology. It was different from Jung’s analytic psychology in the essential importance of presence versus the unconscious, but in both men we see the distillation of a philosophy deriving from a distinct cultural heritage. It’s as if everything going back to Classical Greek society to his age had led to the perfection of psychology as representative of the modern, post industrial mind.
The title Courage to Create was a nod to Paul Tillich’s The Courage to Be, a book that demonstrated the importance from the religious life to modern mental health (Tillich, 2000). This did not always happen in a good way, either. Sometimes extreme strong religious affect, combined with neuropathy or bipolar mood swings resulted in difficulty. This kind of an example of neurotic religiosity was depicted inside the Case of George (Might, 1989). The religion-psychology influence was reciprocated by modern theologians, notably the Reverend Al Carmines, whose theology synthesized Tillich’s courage to be and May’s courage to create (Cunningham, 2007).
May possibly was a practitioner also as theorist. His approach to therapy was not ad hoc, but a closely exercised top-down approach, directed by his philosophical and theoretical beliefs. In his Art of Counseling (May possibly, 1989) May well describes the Case of George. George was a college student who had problems integrating. He was domineering, with a strong need to change other people to conform to his preferences. George was highly critical from the college faculty, and of the football coaches, both of whom he called “drunks” (Might, 1989, pp.46-47).
George was the interminable reformer, a child from a highly religious family who had a have to change his roommates, classmates, even the people who joined his campus Christian club. Through continued therapy, May possibly pointed out to George his denial and egocentrism (May, 1989). By the gradual acceptance of difference in others, along with the awareness of his very own ego defense George came to be more compromising (May well, 1989). Through self revelation, George was able to transform his moral isolationism into socially constructive behavior (May well, 1989).
The case of George and others gave validity to the analogy of personality as a web, which ventures new connections, with each new connection resulting in lines of pressure between infinitely larger numbers of points (May well, 1989). The stress between points of attachment is continuously subject to change (May, 1989). It was not the goal of existential psychotherapy to nullify or become blissfully unaware of this pressure, but to teach the individual how to exist in a healthy relationship with his anxiousness and tension, and use this pressure to obtain consciousness of being (Could, 1989). Realization was the objective of successful therapy, not a shallow and illusory feel good (Might, 1989).
George’s crab-like inflexibility prevented him from opening up to alternative possibilities. He was not at fault, inside the sense that he was unaware of his rigid thinking. The absence of self awareness is the disease. In other cases, people are desperate and disoriented, covering their perception of meaninglessness with self-destructive behavior, often within the form of sense-gratifying addictions (De Castro, 2009). It is not sufficient to existential psychotherapy to understand the patient, but according to Yalom (1980), to understand the private world with the patient in order to bring him to an adjustment with reality. To Could, this new social reality was what bred disappointment and dissatisfaction (May possibly, 1989).
The present state of psychology was dangerously shallow and technique oriented (Schneider, Galvin, & Serlin, 2009). It had become a system of gimmicks, with button pushing simplicity that had lost the tedious art of dredging the unconscious (Schneider, et al., 2009). Boredom follows gimmickry, and that leads to an explosion of therapy systems (Schneider, et al., 2009).
In May’s four stages with the emerging consciousness of self, innocence, rebellion, ordinary consciousness and creative consciousness (Berecz, 2009), it would be the latter that would find the most discussion in his writings. Creative self-consciousness is analogous to Maslow’s peak experience, a transient state of universal connectedness that was most typically identified with saints and mystics (Berecz, 2009). However momentary these states had been, their effects had been long lasting. Jung wrote similarly about the nature of eternity, which did not have the same connotation as forever, but was rather a lapse of time and place consciousness, where the attention somehow resided outside of the relative universe (Jung, 1972).
May possibly added intention to the lexicon of humanistic psychology (Kiser, 2007b). Intention is the proactive engagement with reality. This meant experiencing life deeply, and confronting our objects of anxiety directly (Kiser, 2007b). Intentionality was a dynamic principle, which underlies and constitutes the active portion of the process of willing into being (Kiser, 2007b). Will and intentionality are the dynamic duo, exactly where intentionality follows will to actualize potentiality (Kiser, 2007b). Intentionality is the structure that gives meaning to experience (Kiser, 2007b). What makes intention important to the therapeutic process is that at its center lies meaning (Kiser, 2007b).This manifests itself within the therapeutic process since the “meaning matrix, which patient and therapist share” (Might, In: Kiser, 2007b, p.157).
The dyadic relationship of patient-therapist is also an intentional construct, and it is important to recognize its meaningfulness by referring back to why we call it existential psychotherapy, that there is no meaning outside with the meaning we make in life through will and intention. This meaning out of emptiness is the essence of the existential condition. From moment to moment the patient is manifesting new intentionalities. The therapist’s duty is to be aware of new intention-made meanings as they arise, and in turn reflect these back to the patient in order to heighten his consciousness (Kiser, 2007b).
As was stated, Might acknowledged the historical antecedents to existential psychotherapy. Might credited Freud in specific, specially his theory of anxiousness since the reemergence of repressed libido, and that anxiousness is the reactive ego in response to threat of loss of love (Might, 2008). It is triggered by threats to the core values of our existence (May possibly, 2008). Some basic, but essential differences stand out between May’s interpretation of anxiety, and that of Freud. May possibly did not discredit the biology with the libido, but rather approached the therapy as an outside-in process. The problem was inside the here and now, to be found inside the meaning being created within the moment, in the dialectic of strength of values as well as the temporal insecurity of a mechanistic, industrialized and depersonalizing modern society (May perhaps, 2008). This is one point of evidence to confirm the stated thesis of this paper. It is the times we happen to be living in that make personality more vulnerable to existentially created neuroses than in any era before.
Another important distinction between Freudian psychoanalysis and existential psychotherapy is the role of anxiety. Traditional psychotherapy sought to reduce or eliminate anxiety. This was not so with existential psychotherapy, which attributed permanency to anxiousness. Society driven anxiousness was something to be mastered according to the situation (May well, 2008). Why would May well have reassigned anxiety? What would May perhaps have known that Freud didn’t consider? Again, to understand why May possibly gave positive prominence to anxiousness is to understand the essential source of existential anxiousness, that it is conditional upon the kind of society May well saw emerging in the 20th Century (Schneider, et al., 2009).
It is hoped that the preceding paragraph will have crystallized the opening thesis that existential psychotherapy is distinctly modern, and that its logic is wholly dependent on circumstances of technology, population, industrialization, and also the altering sexual and hedonistic mores that were not in existence prior to the Industrial Era. As a philosophy heralded by Nietzsche’s “God is dead” premise (Schneider, et al., 2009) existentialism was distinctly suited to the present age, which has mostly changed in volume and intensity, rather than type since the advent with the aloof metropolis of steel and concrete made iconic by Lang’s Metropolis (1927) and Rand’s Fountainhead (1943), with its clear and dissociative stratification between the working class and the city’s planners.
Might stated it wasn’t his ambition to replace Freud’s technical discoveries, but to rediscover them (May perhaps, 2009). Even at the risk of humanistic psychology’s seemingly vague and muddled particulars, May’s sympathy to the humanistic school of psychology arose from an alarm that science was being misappropriated to turn male over into the image with the machine (Could, 2009). May could appreciate the confusion with which the American psychologist may well perceive existential psychotherapy, which he admitted was “General, so philosophical, so untestable” (May, 2009, p.264).
Being
The amorphous nature of existential psychotherapy needed justification. That was provided by another cornerstone of existentialism, the concept of being (Could, 2009). All psychological terminology was referential to the concepts of being and non-being (Could, 2009). Might carried forward the Freudian neurosis and anxiety, but not as products of repression of impulses into the unconscious. Anxiousness may possibly have been a symptom, but was not in and of itself a disease. Power and prestige are made values, in existentialist language. A theme of constructivism is to be found in this philosophy, since our most sophisticated values can be made more important than survival, itself (Could, 2009).
The being is centered within itself, and any attempt to displace it would trigger its defense (May well, 2009). Life in all its forms, plant and animal will defend its centeredness, and re-center itself where needed. Could illustrated this point with a story of how he cut the top off a pine tree in order to make a Christmas tree, and a new top would arise from some lower point to form a new center point (May well, 2009).
May well also illustrated this concept with an actual case study, that of Mrs. Hutchens (May well, 2009). Mrs. Hutchens’ personality shared several commonalities with that of George, above. The proper and controlled Mrs. Hutchens reacted to the therapist’s attempts to unseat her obstinacy by terminating her therapy (Could, 2009). Might interpreted Mrs. Hutchens’ reaction as evidence that the personality depends on its neuroses as a security blanket, and that neurosis itself is a defensive reaction to preserve the ego’s existence (May possibly, 2009).
Existential psychotherapy today has different paths of acceptance, although its popularity may perhaps not be what it once was. This is in particular ironic considering the present age of economic and political insecurity, combined with a maximally litigious society. We have everything today that existential psychotherapy set out to help us adapt to. Even so, the humanistic-existentialist perspective continues to inform psychology, specifically within the context of therapy (Farber, 2010). Humanistic-existential psychology maintains a dialogue with clinical psychology as a whole, and clinical psychotherapy is in some part a product of its focus on helping clients actualize their potentialities (Farber, 2010).
Where the therapeutic local weather fosters free will, a willingness to take responsibility, and recognize the person as an entity bounded by physical, social, and psychological contexts, there will be found at least the kernel of existential theory (Farber, 2010). Neither does the theory of existential psychotherapy exclude the practice of other forms of therapy. One finds that alternate approaches are often to be found working together with existential therapy (Farber, 2010). For example, techniques of Gestalt therapy (body awareness; the two-chair technique) could be incorporated, as these facilitate the client’s work toward achieving his consciousness of being (Farber, 2010).
Eclectic variants of existential therapy have arisen as a result of such combinatory methods. There is existential-integrative therapy, which uses verbal queries to get the client to come into contact with experiential concerns and issues, to encourage elaboration of an experiential state, or to be aware of discrepancies between what the client says and how he acts (Farber, 2010). Theistic existential psychotherapy is an application of existential therapy that capitalizes on existentialism’s extension into human spiritual needs (Bartz, 2009).
The dichotomy between psychology and spirituality is also in flux, as it vacillates between the reductionism of behaviorist leanings along with the cosmological significance of transpersonal psychology. It is the position of this paper that existential psychotherapy embraces the latter. However, it does not logically follow that humanistic psychology as a species is necessarily spiritualistic. In fact, essential humanistic psychology does not rest on a premise of theology at all, and it is equally possible for atheists to work with some forms of humanistic psychology as it would be for spiritually minded people.
To demonstrate why this need to be so, we need only remind the reader of Nietzsche’s “God is dead” premise (Moss, 2010), which set the tone for an emancipation from dogma and a rejection of superstition. Also, we have the non-theistic philosophy of another prominent existentialist, Sartre (Charmé, 2000). Ellis, another humanistic psychologist from the post-conformity 1960s culture wars even noted that extreme religiosity poses conflict with mental health (Sharkey & Malony, 1986).
Conclusion
May perhaps viewed mental health as a crisis of personality in a depersonalized society. The never ending search for sensory gratification through sex, drugs, and other self destructive hedonism drove people further from satisfying, healthy relationship with society, rather than a meaningful integration with it. Psychotherapy in general had become gimmicky, transient, and subject to deviancy from its intended mission of engendering psychological effectively being.
Existential psychotherapy was an evolutionary succession to psychotherapy, which succeeded in attributing neurosis to inherent traits like libido, but failed to reconcile the effects of a cataclysmic change in civilization, specifically the advent of the technological era. May possibly positioned neurosis somewhere between the needs of biology along with the disappointment of a society architected to provide every convenience, except for cosmic meaning and spiritual gratification.
Yet, May’s existential psychotherapy allowed for opportunities of meaningful change at every point inside the therapeutic context, and every moment could be potentiated through willful intention. Successful reintegration could be achieved at any time, but it required conscious participation, and using the therapist’s help, recognition of the avoidance of particular responsibility and being. More than a theorist, May well applied his philosophy to the therapeutic practice. He illustrated reintegration with case studies from his own practice. The technique often involved bringing the client into conscious recognition of his state of being, in relationship to the dialectic pressure between one’s values and one’s social predicament.
The concept with the dialectic was emblematic of May. Mental health was not achieved through resolving unconscious repression, but by bringing the client into connection with full awareness. Not the elimination of anxiousness, but the mastery of it was the key to harmonious coexistence within the framework of competing dialectic relationships.
Humanistic psychology has faded somewhat in the therapeutic Zeitgeist, in an age that has only become more diffracted and materialistic. But existential psychotherapy lives on in a variety of forms. Its basic tenets have penetrated more traditional therapeutic venues, but its practice is also clearly dominant in eclectic blends of existentialism with spiritual, religious, and integrative philosophies.
A criticism could be found in its cathexis with post industrialism, as somehow more of a therapeutic triage than a universal, ageless truth. This may perhaps, in fact, be correct. It is analogous to saying the airplane or automobile would be irrelevant if miraculously transported back in time to some horse driven age. We cannot know what people of the18th Century might have made of an automobile suddenly in their midst, but surely it would have worked, given a proper support system of knowledgeable driver and gasoline. The same may not be said of existential therapy. For its efficacy requires a societal structure exclusive to the modern age. A happy 17th Century farmer, blacksmith or merchant probably knew his place in society, and had other pressing issues. His work was his own, his clientele petitioned him directly for their grievances. Although corporations do their best to indoctrinate its employees with private responsibility, it is hard to see how this may well actually happen. Must an assembly line worker at a car manufacturing factory take exclusive responsibility for a design failure that results in deaths and massive recalls? Really should a mutual fund sales person take responsibility for the stocks he or she sells to a retired person? When society indoctrinates its members into thinking that some dream of home ownership is their privilege, need to those members be personally responsibility to the mortgage lender when they are laid off from their job, through no fault of their very own, with no social structure in place to meet their basic needs of food and shelter? It is these intrinsically modern dilemmas that gave birth to existential psychotherapy.
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