Experiential Therapy
Basic Dimensions of the Human Condition
■ The capacity for self awareness:
o The greater our awareness, the greater our possibilities for freedom
o Awareness is realizing
● We are finite- time is limited
● We have potential, the choice to act or not to act
● Meaning is not automatic- we must seek it
● We are subject to loneliness, meaninglessness, emptiness, guilt and isolation
■ The tension between freedom and responsibility o People are free to choose among alternatives and have a large role in shaping personal destinies
o Manner in which we live and what we become are result of our choices
o People must accept responsibility for directing own lives
■ Creation of an identity and establishing meaningful relationships o Identity is the courage to be
o We must trust ourselves to search within and find our own answers
o Our great fear is that we will discover there is no core, no self
o Aloneness
● We must tolerate being alone with self
● We must have a relationship with ourselves first
o Struggling with identity
● We are trapped in doing mode to avoid experience of being
o Relatedness
● At their best our relationships are based on our desire for fulfillment, not our deprivation
■ The search for meaning o Like pleasure, meaning but be pursued
● Finding mening in life is a byproduct of a commitment to creating, loving, and working
o Life is not meaningful in itself, the individual must create and discover meaning
o Goals deal with
● Discarding old values
● Coping with meaninglessness
● Creating new meaning
■ Accepting anxiety as a condition of living o Anxiety arises from striving to survive and maintain own being
o Existential anxiety is normal- life cannot be lived, not can death be faced, without anxiety
● Anxiety can be a stimulus for growth as we become aware of and accept our freedom
● We can blunt our anxiety by creating the illusion that there is security to life
● If we have the courage to face ourselves and life we may be frightened, but we will be able to change
o Neurotic anxiety creates guilt
■ The awareness of death and nonbeing o Awareness of death is a basic human condition which gives significant to our living
o We must think about death if we are to think significantly about life
o If we defend against death our lives can become meaningless
o We learn to live in the “now”
o One day at a time results in a zest for life and creativity
Basic Dimensions of the Human Condition■ The capacity for self awareness:
o The greater our awareness, the greater our possibilities for freedom
o Awareness is realizing
● We are finite- time is limited
● We have potential, the choice to act or not to act
● Meaning is not automatic- we must seek it
● We are subject to loneliness, meaninglessness, emptiness, guilt and isolation
■ The tension between freedom and responsibility o People are free to choose among alternatives and have a large role in shaping personal destinies
o Manner in which we live and what we become are result of our choices
o People must accept responsibility for directing own lives
■ Creation of an identity and establishing meaningful relationships o Identity is the courage to be
o We must trust ourselves to search within and find our own answers
o Our great fear is that we will discover there is no core, no self
o Aloneness
● We must tolerate being alone with self
● We must have a relationship with ourselves first
o Struggling with identity
● We are trapped in doing mode to avoid experience of being
o Relatedness
● At their best our relationships are based on our desire for fulfillment, not our deprivation
■ The search for meaning o Like pleasure, meaning but be pursued
● Finding mening in life is a byproduct of a commitment to creating, loving, and working
o Life is not meaningful in itself, the individual must create and discover meaning
o Goals deal with
● Discarding old values
● Coping with meaninglessness
● Creating new meaning
■ Accepting anxiety as a condition of living o Anxiety arises from striving to survive and maintain own being
o Existential anxiety is normal- life cannot be lived, not can death be faced, without anxiety
● Anxiety can be a stimulus for growth as we become aware of and accept our freedom
● We can blunt our anxiety by creating the illusion that there is security to life
● If we have the courage to face ourselves and life we may be frightened, but we will be able to change
o Neurotic anxiety creates guilt
■ The awareness of death and nonbeing o Awareness of death is a basic human condition which gives significant to our living
o We must think about death if we are to think significantly about life
o If we defend against death our lives can become meaningless
o We learn to live in the “now”
o One day at a time results in a zest for life and creativity
