The author is S. L. Bratchenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychology, Russian State Pedagogical University. Herzen, candidate of psychology. Sciences. The original article was published in Psychological Newspaper N 01 (16) 1997.
… We are living beings, and therefore, to a certain extent, we are all existentialists.
J. Bugental, R. Kleiner
The existential-humanistic approach is not among the simple ones. Difficulties begin with the name itself. To deal with this, a little history.
The existential direction in psychology arose in Europe in the first half of the XNUMXth century at the junction of two trends: on the one hand, it was the dissatisfaction of many psychologists and therapists with the then dominant deterministic views and the orientation towards an objective, scientific analysis of a person; on the other hand, it is a powerful development of existential philosophy, which showed great interest in psychology and psychiatry. As a result, a new trend appeared in psychology — the existential one, represented by such names as Karl Jaspers, Ludwig Binswanger, Medard Boss, Viktor Frankl and more
It is important to note that the influence of existentialism on psychology was not limited to the emergence of the actual existential direction — very many psychological schools assimilated these ideas to one degree or another. Existential motives are especially strong in E. Fromm, F. Perls, K. Horney, S. L. w. e.shtein, etc. This allows us to talk about a whole family of existentially oriented approaches and distinguish between existential psychology (therapy) in a broad and narrow sense. In the latter case, the existential view of a person acts as a well-realized and consistently implemented principled position. Initially, this proper existential trend (in the narrow sense) was called existential-phenomenological or existential-analytical and was a purely European phenomenon. But after the Second World War, the existential approach became widespread in the United States. Moreover, there among its most prominent representatives were some leaders of the third, humanistic revolution in psychology (which, in turn, was largely based on the ideas of existentialism): Rollo MAY, James BUGENTAL and more
Apparently, therefore, some of them, in particular, J. BUGENTHAL prefer to talk about the existential-humanistic approach. It seems that such an association is quite reasonable and has a deep meaning. Existentialism and humanism are certainly not the same thing; and the name existential-humanistic captures not only their non-identity, but also their fundamental commonality, which consists primarily in recognizing a person’s freedom to build his life and the ability to do so.
Recently, a section of existential-humanistic therapy has been created in the St. Petersburg Association for Training and Psychotherapy. It would be more accurate to say that a group of psychologists and therapists received official status, actually working in this direction since 1992, when in Moscow, within the framework of the International Conference on Humanistic Psychology, we met with Deborah RAHILLY, a student and follower of J. Bugental. Then Deborah and her colleagues Robert NEYDER, Padma KATEL, Lanier KLANCY and others conducted during 1992-1995. in St. Petersburg 3 training seminars on EGP. In the intervals between workshops, the group discussed the experience gained, the main ideas and methodological aspects of work in this direction. Thus, as a basic (but not the only) section of existential-humanistic therapy, the approach was chosen J. Bugentala, whose main provisions are as follows. (But first, a few words about our long-standing problem: what should we call them? Many well-known conventional psychologists in Russian transcription not only receive a very peculiar interpretation, for example, Abraham MASLOW, one of the largest psychologists of the XNUMXth century, is known to us as Abraham Maslow, although, if you look at the root, then he is Abram Maslov, and if you look at the dictionary, then Abraham Maslow, but they acquire several names at once, for example, Ronald LAING, aka LANG. Especially unlucky James BUGENTAL — it is called three or more options; I think it’s best to pronounce it the way he does it himself — BUGENTAL.)
So, the most important provisions of the approach J. Bugentala, which he himself calls life-changing therapy.
- Behind any particular psychological difficulties in a person’s life lie deeper (and not always clearly realized) existential problems of the problem of freedom of choice and responsibility, isolation and interconnectedness with other people, the search for the meaning of life and answers to the questions What am I? What is this world? etc. In the existential-humanistic approach, the therapist manifests a special existential hearing, which allows him to catch these hidden existential problems and appeals behind the façade of the stated problems and complaints of the client. This is the point of life-changing therapy: the client and therapist work together to help the former understand the way they have answered the existential questions of their lives, and to revise some of the answers in ways that make the client’s life more authentic and fulfilling.
- The existential-humanistic approach is based on the recognition of the human in every person and the initial respect for his uniqueness and autonomy. It also means the therapist’s awareness that a person in the depths of his essence is ruthlessly unpredictable and cannot be fully known, since he himself can act as a source of changes in his own being, destroying objective predictions and expected results.
- The focus of the therapist, working in an existential-humanistic approach, is the subjectivity of a person, that, as he says J. Bugenthal, the inner autonomous and intimate reality in which we live most sincerely. Subjectivity is our experiences, aspirations, thoughts, anxieties … everything that happens inside us and determines what we do outside, and most importantly — what we do from what happens to us there. The subjectivity of the client is the main place of application of the therapist’s efforts, and his own subjectivity is the main means of helping the client.
- Without denying the great importance of the past and the future, the existential-humanistic approach assigns the leading role to work in the present with what really lives in the subjectivity of a person at the moment, which is relevant here and now. It is in the process of direct living, including the events of the past or future, that existential problems can be heard and fully realized.
- The existential-humanistic approach rather sets a certain direction, a locus of understanding by the therapist of what is happening in therapy, rather than a specific set of techniques and prescriptions. In relation to any situation, one can take (or not take) an existential position. Therefore, this approach is distinguished by an amazing variety and richness of the psychotechniques used, including even such seemingly non-therapeutic actions as advice, demand, instruction, etc. Budget’s position: under certain conditions, almost any action can lead the client to intensify work with subjectivity; The art of the therapist lies precisely in the ability to adequately apply the entire rich arsenal without going over to manipulation. It was for the formation of this art of psychotherapist that Bugental described 13 main parameters of therapeutic work and developed a methodology for developing each of them. In my opinion, other approaches can hardly boast of such depth and thoroughness in developing a program for expanding the subjective possibilities of a therapist.
The plans of the section of existential-humanistic therapy include further study and practical development of the entire wealth of the theoretical and methodological arsenal of the existential-humanistic approach. We invite everyone who wants to take an existential position in psychology and in life to cooperate and participate in the work of the section.