These issues are present in every culture, gender, ethnic background, religious belief and sexual orientation. Additionally, every human being must come to terms with all of these issues and give meaning to them. From an existentialist view, this meaning is formed by a person’s interaction with their world.
As people evolve and search for meaning, they may encounter the need for counseling or therapy. The existential therapist works with the client to investigate their behavior and review how social and cultural conditioning affects them. This frees the client from discussions of feelings which can be construed as weakness within certain cultures and genders.
The client also explores their external environment with the therapist and is challenged to see their own role within the world. Existential therapy helps them learn what meanings they assign to the intangibles of life and how they formed those meanings. Overall, culture is the expression of our collective participation with the world.
Depending on one’s theoretical view, a main strength and/or weakness of existential therapy is it does not solely rely on science to decipher the intangibles of life such as happiness, meaning, love, and morality. It recognizes that each human being must form a personal definition of these concepts which can be informed by science, but must be guided by philosophical theory.
Accordingly, when studying human experience, the questions that ought to guide the inquiries of existential therapists are as follows: 1) How does the world matter to this person?, 2) What does a persons world reveal about him/her?, and 3) What can an individual life or a specific psychological symptom, reveal about our world and all of us who participate in this world? These types of questions usually provide valuable information and meanings of the client’s world to the counselor.
The existential technique and procedure is divided into three main phases. During each phase, a different aspect of one’s world and its underlying meanings are explored. This allows a thorough exploration of one’s cultural background or influences.
In the initial phase, a client defines their view of the world including any assumptions which may be culturally based. Other areas to consider are those things and people that a client chooses to be around. Other important factors are the immediate situation, in addition to the cultural, social, and historical world of a client.
In the next phase, a client gives meaning to their value system and continues a self-exploration process. From a cultural perspective, a person’s value system is often based on their family interactions during child development. Culture is an essential part of any human from the beginning. If a particular culture or class of behavior was stressed, a client’s initial value system is heavily based on external influences during childhood. During this phase of existential therapy, the client has the opportunity to review their acquired value system and determine if it works for them now.
As the client enters the final phase of existential therapy, they apply the information they learned about themselves, their culture, and their world. Their world includes their bodies, race, gender, class, families, society, culture, and history. They then use this information to form a plan toward a purposeful existence and mental health within the context of their culture.
Mental health is more than the absence of psychological symptoms or locating one’s self within some statistical norm. It is being in balance and harmony with one’s inner-self; with one’s friends, family, and colleagues; with one’s physical environments; and one’s spirituality. The existential standard of mental health is a higher standard; and the existential counselor examines every sphere of the client’s life to ensure each portion is fulfilled. (Epp, 1998, para.45)
From an existential view, our relationship with the world is fundamental, essential and primary. Psychology is not considered to be just human behavior. It is the world according to a human being and the meaning created within this relationship. Since the existential therapy focuses on the human experience, it is a powerful tool when it is utilized to incorporate cultural experiences into a client’s therapy.
References
Corey, G. (2001). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (6th ed.). Stamford, CT: Wadsworth.
Epp, L. (1998, January). The courage to be an existential counselor: An interview of Clemmont E Vontress. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 20(1), 1-12. Retrieved from Proquest database on November 10, 2003.
