About the Book
In 1958 in their book Existence, Rollo May, Henri Ellenberger and Ernst Angel introduced existential therapy to the English-speaking psychotherapy world. Since then the field of existential therapy has moved along rapidly and this book considers how it has developed over the past fifty years, and the implications that this has for the future. In this book Laura Barnett and Greg Madison bring together contributors from both sides of the Atlantic to highlight issues surrounding existential therapy today, and look constructively to the future whilst acknowledging the debt to the past. Dialogue is at the heart of the book, the dialogue between existential thought and therapeutic practice, and between the past and the future. Existential Therapy: Legacy, Vibrancy and Dialogue, focuses on dialogue between key figures in the field to cover topics including: historical and conceptual foundations of existential therapy perspectives on contemporary Daseinanalysis the search for meaning in existential therapy existential therapy in contemporary society.
Existential Therapy: Legacy, Vibrancy and Dialogue explores how existential therapy has changed in the last five decades, and compares and contrasts different schools of existential therapy, making it essential reading for experienced therapists as well as for anyone training in psychotherapy, counselling, psychology or psychiatry who wants to incorporate existential therapy into their practice.
Table of Contents:
Barnett, Madison, Introduction. Craig, Existential Psychotherapy, Discipline and Démarche: Remembering Essential Horizons. Frie, Existential Psychotherapy and Post-Cartesian Psychoanalysis: Historical Perspectives and Confluence. Holzhey-Kunz, Fazekas, Daseinsanalysis: A Dialogue. Barnett, Tedium, Ennui, and Atonement, Existential Perspectives on Boredom. Todres, Gendlin, Experiential-Existential Therapy: Embodying Freedom and Vulnerability. Madison, Gendlin, Palpable Existentialism: An Interview with Eugene Gendlin. Cannon, Applied Existential Psychotherapy: An Experiential Psychodynamic Approach. Heaton, Thompson, R.D. Laing Revisited: A Dialogue on his Contribution to Authenticity and the Sceptic Tradition. Hoeller, The Existential 'Therapy' of Thomas Szasz: Existential, Yes; Therapy, No. Spinelli, Cooper, A Dialogue on Dialogue. Längle, The Viennese School of Existential Analysis, the Search for Meaning and Affirmation of Life. van Deurzen, Reasons for Living: Existential Therapy and Spirituality. Finlay, Research: An Existential Predicament for our Profession? Schneider, du Plock, Depth and the Marketplace: Psychology's Faustian Plight, a Dialogue. Friedman, Carel, Hassan, Orange, On Reading Irvin Yalom's Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Dread of Death. Barnett, Madison, Conclusion.
Review :
"This volume, whose list of contributors reads like a 'Who's Who' in existential therapy, will leave the reader with no doubts about the influence and vitality of the existential tradition in a plurality of contemporary psychotherapeutic approaches. The book is a marvelous feast for anyone with a taste for the existential." - Robert D. Stolorow, author, World, Affectivity, Trauma: Heidegger and Post-Cartesian Psychoanalysis (Routledge, 2011). "This book is a tour de force that under one cover discusses the main current approaches to existential therapy, and does so in a highly interesting and engaging way. History, theory, dialogue, meaning, life and death, and the future are all discussed in an illuminating way. It is a wonderful book for both students and practitioners to gain a greater understanding of current existential approaches from an integrative perspective." - Leslie S Greenberg, Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Psychology, York University Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
