Existential Theory

Existential Theory

Existential Theory

Introduction

The Existential Psychotherapy theory is best described as a “movement wanting to know to the best extent possible the existence of the patient in the world in which he lives, moves, and experiences” (Pope, 2003: p22). According to Pope (2003) the purpose of this theory is to understand human existence, not a system of “how to” (p.43) and his objective “to understand the life history of a patient as modifications if his being-in-the-world, not as the idiosyncratic pathology of specific theory” (Pope, 2003: 47).

Pope (2003) defines Existentialisms as “a philosophical movement that deals with human freedom. Existentialism itself is a revolt against traditional philosophy; it has been labeled a philosophy but a definition is difficult as its proponents have a marked difference in outlook (Schaeffer, 1968). Existentialist thought concerns itself with trying to understand fundamentals of the human condition and its relation to the world. Basic questions include: "What is it like to be a human in the world?” and "What is the nature of human freedom?" (Wong, 2005: p45) In the other hand, Ethnicity, according to Wong (2005) is best defined as “having a feeling that you belong to a historical continuity” (p. 2). It also suggests that ethnicity is constantly evolving due to a combination of values, religion, race, gender, and cultural history, ethnicity is maintain.

Existential Theory and phenomenology have influenced subsequent developments in the social sciences both explicitly and implicitly. Although the existing literature on postmodernism is very complex and difficult (if not impossible) to characterise, much of it implicitly addresses the absence of inherent or intrinsic meaning (Fontana, 2004).

In earlier times, existential writers would have depicted this as the irrationality of life or even as the problem of the absurd. Like the earlier Existential Theory, postmodernism is perhaps best seen not as a well-developed theory or perspective but rather as a sensibility or orientation to the world; also, like existentialist, the word postmodern is used as an adjective to characterise representations in art, dance, theater, cinema, spirituality, and so on. Postmodernism is evolving and changing with the times. It is likely that the majority of post- modernists would disagree with, reject, or assert the failure of what is called the “Enlightenment Project,” specifically the promise of science to bring forth a more just world (Kotarba, 2002). This is a sentiment with which many existentialists would also agree. “Science” is problematic in this view—capable of many worthy achievements but also contributing to much suffering and misery.

If Existentialisms tries to understand the existence of human behaviour, then the ethnicity of the patient is the foundation and the window that we see through when we begin our journey of discoveries of human behaviour and its world. The way to know the patient's world is to know what role Ethnicity plays in their lives and how their ethnicity covers up the underlining issues.

Existential Theory & Counseling

The study of emotions has blossomed during recent decades. Although some of the early work was done by existential sociologists or ...