I listened to Michael Britt's podcast so I would like to add some more
comments.I am quite familiar with existential psychology,having attended Gannon
Univeresity at a time when existentialism was hot.A related Catholic university
(Duquesne ) established an Existential psychology program under some Dutch
Redemptorist priests led by Adrian Van Kamp(sp). Although it is important to
discuss the various perspectives in psychology within the historical and the
existing zeitgist,the existential perspective was crtitical at the time when
folks were seeking meaning in their lives. This seemed to have peaked around
the world wars periods and national and international conflicts -not only
physically but ideologically.The bible of the existential movement was probably
Jean Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingmess" and other works by other
Europeans like Nietsche,Karl Jaspers,Camus and others.Jean Paul Sartre probably
summarizes ehe existential ideology best,when at the assassination of JFK,he
remarked that all the possobilities of what one can become are negated by death.
It is true that the existential approach embrades ideas like
rreedom,self-actualization,choice
and so on,but I would rather go with Rollo May,Victor Frankl,and some others
for being quintessentially
existential psychotherapists,since they developped their approaches based on
their facing meaningful
existential dilemmas: Rollo May had TB,and Victor Frankl wrote developped
Logotherapy based on his experiences in a concentration camp.
The phrase "if you meet the Budha on the road,kill him" goes
way way back of the foundations of Zen .They are part of phrases called the
koans,for example, "what is the sound of one hand clapping".Those phrases are
meant to enlighten the existential experience.There are some wotks
re contrasting and comparing Existential psychology and Bejaviorism by
Skinner,Rollo May and a paperback by a British dude (Alan Watts) turned Zen
guru- Psychotherapy: East and West.
If I was into Existential psychotherapy,my best advice to a client would be :
BE HERE NOW.
Michael "omnicentric" Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
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