The Emergence of Existential Psychothreapy
The emergence of psychology as a scientific field and healing profession at the turn of the 20th century, birthed a multitude of interpretations and schools of thought concerning all mental and social human phenomenon. One interpretation would lay the foundation for a theoretical framework, in turn sparking controversy and conversation over the problematic blind spots or shortcomings of said framework. Thus, sparking a sometimes-radical departure or a subtle shift away from the framework of origin, moving towards a newer and often times more progressive view and school of thought. At times these confrontations are expressed in revolutionary ideological and paradigmatic shifts, while in other times much of the previous framework is carried over into the new discipline, whether conscious or unintentional. Both a radical response and payment of homage to older thought can be observed in the rise of existential psychotherapy. This theoretical orientation and practice evolved in the mid-20th century as a response to biological and psychological determinism and was deeply influenced by fields outside of psychology, most notably philosophy. While simultaneously being a product of the sociopolitical landscape in early and middle decades of the 1900s.
Existential psychotherapy has never been formalized under one unified theory, as there are varying opinions and dictums within the wide scope of both existentialist philosophy and psychology. Yet, unifying, and recurring themes are present amongst the influential thinkers and forerunners of the field, and chief among these unifying themes is that of free will or agency (Corey, 2016). In existentialism it is given that we are free agents of action, who can choose one’s own way and attitude towards life and are responsible for the actions that we take or fail to assert (Yalom, 1980). The emphasis on freedom and responsibility of humanity was in part a response to the genetic and environmental determinism that had grown prominent in the early 1900s, as a result of Darwin’s theory of natural selection and evolution.
Darwin’s theories on evolutionary processes such as acquired characteristics via inheritance and natural selection, gave rise to biological determinism through invisible evolutionary forces. Darwin’s studies on the evolution of emotions in humans and animals in his later years, would prove to be incredibly influential in the field of psychology (Funder, 2015). For Darwin, emotions served a functional and adaptive purpose, and was passed down from generation to generation by those who were able to procreate from the benefit that said adaptive habit or trait (Darwin, 1872). These acquired and inherited habits, such as fight or flight, fear, anger, and joy, were all adaptive stratagems for survival, and over generations of inheritance they became instinctual in animals and humans (Darwin, 1872). Those that did not adapt to their environment were unable to pass on their genes, and thus was born the concept of survival of the fittest in Francis Galton’s work (Whitaker, 2002). Maladaptive traits or vestigial behaviors could also fall out of use within a species over time (Darwin, 1872). These concepts would form the bedrock for both eugenics and genetic determinism, and behaviorism and its brand of environmental determinism.
Eugenics as a movement would see its rise and peak in the United States and Europe during the first few decades of the 1900s and would prove popular among elitists and those in race psychology (Whitaker, 2002). Eugenics combined with Mendel’s work on genetics and the inheritance of traits via the transmission of genes, would serve for the basis of debates over instituting Eugenic practices. The belief at the time espoused that those who were successful were born with good genes, while those who were criminals or mental ill were the result of bad gene propagation, thus resulting in a strong genetic determinism that valued nature and neglected the importance of an individual’s social environment. Proponents of Eugenics split the field into positive and negative eugenics, both claiming that the propagation of those with bad genes were the cause of modern’s society’s degeneration and deterioration, and thus would be the downfall of modern civilization if not treated (Whitaker, 2002).
Many of the policies that both positive and negative eugenics would install had lasting effects that still reach to today. Positive eugenics and its benefactors founded programs that would teach sex education in classrooms, as the hope was to prevent the good borns from procreating with the bad borns. Planned Parenthood and advocacy of prophylactics arose from the positive eugenics movement, both of which have shifted away from the founding beliefs to a more progressive and individual liberty focus in today’s sociopolitical climate. Negative eugenics on the other hand, would give rise to the institution of laws preventing interracial marriage, and eventually even the sterilization of those who were determined to be mentally ill, feebleminded, or criminal (Whitaker, 2002). Many individuals who were deemed to be unfit by society and authorities at the time, were punished accordingly and suffered at the hands of overzealous acolytes of Eugenics and genetic determinism. People who were the unfortunate victims of circumstance were often seen as unable to make decisions for themselves, and it was believed they could never achieve any monocum of success, unless by random chance of a fluke. With complete disregard for the benefits and privileges those in the majority received as a result of social and environmental factors, colonialism, racism, and the holocaust were all carried out in the march of progress against societal degradation.
It was to this overemphasis on nature having the say over an individual’s life, that behaviorism would issue challenge. Though Ivan Pavlov is the grandfather of behaviorism, the school or field in psychology would go on to be founded in name by John Watson (Funder, 2015). Watson and other behaviorists believed that it was nurture, not nature that determined an individual’s life (Bigalow & Morris, 2001). An individual was not determined entirely by their genes, but were rather subject to the innumerable forces of the environment in which they developed in. Watson especially believed in the overarching power of nurture, as he would later go on to codify a rigorous methodology for child rearing, to which any child could be shaped and influenced entirely by parenting practices and operant conditioning regimens (Bigalow & Morris, 2001). However, this contrapuntal swing of the pendulum led to another branch of pure deterministic features, one in which all humans could be molded and little to no room for autonomy or free will was made. While behaviorism had been a direct response to Eugenics and biological and genetic determinism, behaviorism overemphasized the behavior of the individual, disregarding the individual’s inner psychological world in favor of measurable data and effects. The inner mental landscape would be tackled by a separate brand of determinism, that would emerge in the form of psychoanalysis.
Psychoanalysis emerged in the infancy years of the 20th century, not as a response to any particular school or practice, but as a means for providing treatment for those suffering from mental illness. Out of Freud’s work and case studies, the psychoanalytic process was born, and with it a novel and unique brand of psychological determinism that had only ever been subtly hinted towards by philosophers of the past (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). Out of a variety of case studies Freud came to the conclusion that much of the neurosis that had been plaguing individuals was the result of repressed memories of traumatic experiences (Breuer & Freud, 1895). From these case studies, Freud laid the groundwork for his concepts of the self and the unconscious structures in the brain (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). Freud split the self-amongst three structures in the brain as the id, the ego, and the superego. The id was the responsible for the innate biological drives and desires, while the superego was primarily concerned with upholding societal standards and labored in favor of other’s interests. (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). The ego’s task was to play diplomat and emissary, conversing with the other two aspects of the self in order to achieve a rational compromise based on the situation the individual currently found themselves in. Freud also posited that this mediation was influenced subtly and often times unknowingly by unconscious thoughts and desires. These unconscious or implicit motivations and reasons would determine an individual’s behavior in a given situation, which often led to both the phenomenon of neurosis and transference (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014).
Freud found that, both the self and the unconscious were formed by past experiences and relationships, especially that of the individual’s First Other or primary caregiver (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). The child’s upbringing was important in psychoanalysis as it was in behaviorism, yet it held an impact on the child’s inner world and phenomenological subjective experience thereof, rather than focusing just on the impact of observable behavior. How the the father and mother would relate to the child and the treatment of the offspring would determine said child’s idiosyncrasies and eccentricates with regard to characterological traits (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). A child would progress through a series of stages, and if a conflict arose during development which the child could not resolve, a subsequent issue would befall the individual. An infant stuck in the oral stage of Freud’s psychosexual model of development might develop oral fixations, that might manifest as deep psychological issues in future relationships throughout adulthood (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). Freud and other psychoanalysts provided some of the first evidence that childhood trauma and traumatic experiences early in life could have a profound and lasting impact on a person. Though Freud had grounded some of his theories in the biological Darwinian model of determinism, he formulated a new brand of determinism in the form of psychological phenomenon, to which existential psychotherapy would consolidate and critique.
The young field of psychology had laid the theoretical framework in which existentialist practices and theories would attempt to breakdown and reconstruct, if not break out of entirely. Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche were among the forerunners of existentialist thought and who reignited an interest in the subjective human experience. Kierkegaard being the father of existentialism, responded to Hegel and his philosophy of dialectics and objective historical movements by focusing on the subjective experience of suffering that individuals faced throughout their lives (Reynolds, 2005). Rather than focusing on the hyper-rational, the early existentialists included the more irrational and complex phenomenon of emotions and sensations of all variety. These included but were not limited to concepts such as grace, anxiety, angst, despair, loneliness, dread, fear, and melancholia (Reynolds, 2005). These concepts were not new in regard to literature, but Kierkegaard and his contemporaries were among the first to discuss them in a philosophical context. After the turn of the century, existentialism would gestate for a few decades while the shifting sociopolitical climate began to awaken citizens around the world to a global horizon.
Existentialism would see its rise to prominence as a response to this awakening to modernity, the first peak of which would run concurrent alongside World War II. In the years leading up to the initial combat and breakout of the war, one philosopher in particular wrote a seminal work that would set the standard for framing human existence in the 1900s. This philosopher was Martin Heidegger, whose magnum opus of Being and Time, not only shaped the emerging field of existentialism, but would go on to shape the framework of existential psychotherapy. Heidegger explored the the ontology of being in a phenomenological approach, and elaborated on our modes of existence (Reynolds, 2005). Heidegger acknowledged our thrownness into the world, or the determinants in our lives such as our having been born in a specific place and time, our familial and national boundaries, and our societal and cultural givens (Heidegger, 2008). Yet, this facticity of life did not prevent us from determining our own life projects and constructing our own meaning and care structures (Heidegger, 2008) and (Reynolds, 2005). The ultimate facticity and inevitability of life was our inescapable death, which was the the catalyst for meaning-making in our lives (Heidegger, 2008). Though we are influenced and deeply embedded in our environment and our genetics, it is up to us as being’s-towards-death to make a choice and choose our meaning in life (Reynolds, 2005). By opting out of our decisions in life, we give in to the demands of das man or the They in our lives, thus resulting in an inauthentic existence (Heidegger, 2008).
This emphasis on freedom and responsibility was further echoed and reiterated upon by the French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote extensively during the German occupation of France and his imprisonment as a soldier in the French Resistance (Reynolds, 2005). Though much of Sartre’s work was a reprisal of Heidegger’s original contributions, he developed the theories into more practical and applicable concepts in everday life. One such concept that has entered into the public sphere is Sartre’s bad faith, wherein an individual deceives themselves into believing there is either no alternatives or options out of their current situation or escape from their plight (Sartre, 1993). Sartre further proclaimed that ‘existence proceeded essence’ in his famous essay and lecture Existentialism is a Humanism (Reynolds, 2005). Sartre contended that this entailed our having to decide what kind of person we were going to become, and that every moment we are choosing who we are to become (Sartre, 1993). Sartre’s brand of radical free will was a drastic departure from the determinism that had run rampant in the early decades of the 20th century. The deterministic dogmas Sartre fought hard against had led to mass genocide via the holocaust and the horrors of modern war, as well as having led to the justification for many racial and sexual discriminatory ideologies and colonialism. Even if Sartre was not ultimately correct in his views on radical free will, his inspirational works reignited discussion on our responsibility and agency as humans.
Sartre’s sentiments would be echoed by both Simone de Beauvoire and Franz Fanon in their own respective works. De Beauviore tackled the issue of sexuality and gender identity in The Second Sex, wherein she critiqued Freud’s original concepts of identity development (De Beauvoire, 2011). Freud’s theories had centered around the development of the man’s identity through the Oedipal Complex and rivalry with the father (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). The woman’s identity was thus secondary and only served as a means for the man to reach his fullest potential (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). De Beauvoire reframed this as a sexual determinism that was based in evolutionary and biological facets, which in turn led to an implicit gender bias which was used to uphold patriarchal norms (De Beauvoire, 2011). These norms had persisted throughout society and were detrimental to women in both their political and social freedoms and identity formation. These arguments were also made by Franz Fanon in his seminal and influential work Black Skins, White Masks, wherein Fanon used psychoanalytic interpretation to examine the effects of colonialism on the colonized citizens (Fanon, 2008). Fanon observed the psychological determinism that shaped the lives of the colonized through the erasure of their culture and the adoption of the colonizer’s language, both forces that would shape the thoughts in terms of a culture dominating and alienating to their original culture (Fanon, 2008). Though Fanon did not believe that these deterministic forces were the sole deciding factor in anyone’s life, nor even an entire society, as he firmly believed in our ability to break from our historical chains towards a more egalitarian future freed from the Hegelian master and slave dialectic (Fanon, 2008).
Perhaps the crown jewel piece of existential psychotherapy would emerge in Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning (Frankl, 2006). This text concretized the wide variety of existential concepts and arguments in a single autobiographical monograph of Frankl’s experience in the Nazi concentration camps. Through his firsthand account of the suffering endured by the prisoners of Auschwitz and other camps, Frankl illustrates both incredible cruelty and resiliency of humanity. With death no longer a distal element of everyday life, individuals would either succumb to the meaninglessness of their current plight or they would endure while holding on to hope (Frankl, 2006). For Frankl, this meaninglessness would trap a person in an existential vacuum, one in which there was no horizon and often spelled the end for those living in the camps. It was hope and having something of meaning or value to aspire towards, choosing one’s horizons that allowed an individual to persevere through the most extreme forms of suffering and solitude. Frankl understood that we could not control every situation or encounter in our lives, but even when we did not have control or power, we still had one last freedom. This was the freedom to choose one’s own way. In other words, to reflect and then choose how one reacts towards their life and their place in it (Frankl, 2006).
The sentiments of both existentialist philosophers and psychologists during the tumultuous era of World War II and after, seeded a compatibilist approach to the debate of determinism and free will. This approach accepted the external forces or given facticity in our lives, while still making room for an individual’s capacity and propensity for self-made change and personal striving growth. Frankl was not the first existentially focused psychologist, as many of Freud’s students such as Otto Rank, Sandor Firenzi, and Karl Jung all took psychoanalysis further into the heart of what it meant to be human (Sharpe & Faulkner, 2014). Medard Boss, Rollo May, Ernest Becker, and Erich Fromme were among other psychologists practicing traditional methods of psychoanalysis, while fusing and distilling into their work a unique and personal touch of existentialist thought and theory. Yet, it was Frankl who pioneered a unique methodology known as logotherapy, a therapy focused on helping an individual create meaning in their life or find their meaning (Frankl, 2006). This therapy would stress the importance of choice and responsibility, as well as the value to be found in suffering, pain, and anxiety (Frankl, 2006). Though this therapy would fall into obscurity and out of favor, it would bleed into the DNA of what would become the totemic text on existential psychotherapy by Irwin Yalom.
Yalom’s work was an interdisciplinary endeavor, bringing together the work of all the aforementioned existentialist philosophers and psychologists. Freedom and responsibility was only one pillar of this new existential orientation, among that of death, meaninglessness, and isolation (Yalom, 1980). Other elements of therapeutic practice such as the emphasis on being present and focusing on the here and now, would be borrowed from the work of Karl Rodgers, Martin Buber, and Paul Tillich (Yalom, 1980). This amalgamation and convergence of a plethora of ideologies allowed existential psychotherapy to move past the nature versus nurture debate. Existential psychotherapy became a perspective within the field of psychology all its own. One that focused primarily on the person’s capacity for growth and becoming an agent of change within their life and the lives of others (Yalom, 1980). Existential psychotherapy grew out of a growing desire to gain back some of the freedom that had been lost as a byproduct of Darwin’s theories and ideologies akin to behaviorism, though it did not reject determinism and its inherent truths outright.
Existential psychotherapy has a complex and multi-layered history that spans the last 150 years, and its roots can be found all across the world. Eastern philosophies and religions bear many resemblances to the dictums and aphorisms within existential psychology. These similarities have allowed existential psychotherapy had grown beyond its Western borders and its reach can felt in other disciplines throughout various cultures. The universality of human existence is the ultimate goal of existential psychotherapy, and this will allow for future growth and conversations to occur within the field. Even though existentialism is not a school proper within psychology, it is a school in which all human beings at some point or another in their lives attend and take lessons. Some people are born into thriving and supportive environments where they can flourish. Still other people find themselves in unfortunate and restrictive circumstances where their choices and autonomy are severely limited. Yet all must struggle with how they live their life, one can reflect and plan, and choose their own outlook upon both the past and the future’s horizon.
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