Introduction
Psychotherapy is also referred to as personal counseling. It involves a deliberate interpersonal association utilized by skilled psychotherapists to assist a patient who is experiencing problems of living. The purpose of psychotherapy is to heighten the sense of well-being of an individual. Psychotherapists implement several methods grounded on experimental association such as communication, dialogue, and behavior change which are formed to enhance the patient’s mental health or to develop or promote group associations like in a family (Yalom, 1991, p. 3). There are several forms of psychotherapy which include; cognitive, dynamic, interpersonal, existential, humanistic, and behavioral psychotherapies (Yalom, 2001, p. 11). Behavioral therapy utilizes several interventions which are associated with learning theory to change the undesired behavior of a client. Dynamic therapy, grounded on psychoanalysis, focuses on comprehending what some symptoms mean and comprehending the emotional disagreements within the client which might be causing the symptoms. Cognitive therapy uses dissimilar techniques to transcend and recognize dysfunctional cognition, reactions, appraisal, and beliefs to change negative and destructive emotions and disturbing dysfunctional behaviors (Jerome, 1988, p.1).
In addition, interpersonal therapy supports all the articulation of the concepts of a client such as dreams, free relationships, and fantasies, from where the psychotherapist develops the status of the unconscious disagreements that leads to the symptoms of the client and character predicaments. Existential therapy is grounded on the existential concept that individuals live by themselves in the globe (Van Deurzen, 1998, p. 12). This separation results in meaninglessness feelings that can be resisted only by forming personal meanings and values in life. On the other hand, mindfulness therapy is evolved in the reaction of psychoanalysis and behaviorism. It focuses on the human perspective of the improvement or advancement of a person which stresses subjective meaning, an interest for constructive development, and a determination refutation rather than pathology (Jerome, 1988, p.2). This paper will critically examine mindfulness and existential psychotherapies.
Existential approach
Every psychotherapist uses different forms of psychotherapy depending on his or her experiences, methods of handling emotional multifaceted cases, and also depending on the presented cases, his/her personality, requirements, conflicts, and bias. The importance of psychotherapy depends on the association of the physician and the patient or client where the significant strategy is talk or communication (Spinelli, 1997, p.12). The psychotherapists talk or communicate with the client and the client communicates to the psychotherapist. As a regulation, the client is required to carry out much of the communicating and as a result, this is perceived as a way of developing or improving interchange therapeutic value (Weinsel, 1960, p. 19).
An existential approach in the field of counseling and psychotherapy is significant for gaining comprehension of the fundamental rules of the conditions of the people. Patients are believed to have a capacity of adequate life and self-reflection to obtain understanding into the operating of one own survival. Therefore, psychotherapists are available to help the clients in the process of creating a sense in their lives (Van Deurzen, 2002, p. 18).
Philosophical concepts
Existential psychotherapy helps individuals to face or put up with four ultimate concerns or major areas of life; meaninglessness, death, isolation, and freedom. In addition, it encourages patients to explore the four areas of global being, and these include; spiritual, personal, physical, and social areas. Moreover, existential therapy encourages patients to focus majorly on their subjective anticipations and initiatives towards other individuals. Therefore, existential psychotherapy cannot be defined singly. Thus, it is a detailed tapestry of incorporating therapeutic activities which familiarize themselves around a corporate interest (Spinelli, 2007, p. 7). The therapy is aimed at exploring the client’s sense of comprehending the globe to offer to mean to someone’s roles, decisions, options, and selections. The therapy does not attempt to heal a particular symptom or assist an individual to feel excited or better but rather it is focused on helping one to understand the relationships and meaning of lived experiences (Van Deurzen-Smith, 1997, 123).
Similarly, the existential approach characterizes individuals as living organisms of persistent alteration and transformation, surviving significantly limited lives in a perspective of personal weaknesses and strengths, and limitations and opportunities formed by their surroundings. With great interest centered on this whole issue regarding the life of the patient, existential therapy entails exploring the value and meaning and studying how to dwell genuinely following someone’s values, ideals, and priorities. To understand human beings, some philosophers utilize inanimate substances as an essential and scientific technique. However, some philosophers have questioned the significance of using such materials and what they dynamically reject is the expansion of the outlook to a comprehension of the people (Cooper, 2003, p. 9-10).
Phenomenological therapy
The phenomenological technique has been used largely in the research of the existential approach. The phenomenological method in psychology provides the possibility of reviewing several developed psychological matters and interests in a manner that is enlightening and original. More significantly, phenomenology tends to introduce a new or fresh environment to the way people contemplate carrying out psychology. The phenomenological technique aims to keep off the inflicting of set hypotheses, beliefs, taboos, explanatory theories, and biases upon individuals’ experiences or encounters either at the early stage of any test or before it becomes important to do so. In general, the implementation of the phenomenological technique permits all encounters or experiences to be regarded as initially significant. Thus, this rule declares that in one’s elimination of any early biases or judgments, people are involving receptivity or openness in all their experiences (Spinelli, 2005, p. 25).
The phenomenological technique works through the bracketing process since by utilizing this method, individuals during their early phases of investigation, handle all experiences as equally suitable and real to be exposed to assessment. However, by following this regulation of the phenomenological method, evaluators are more likely to impose unneeded biases and judgments on their early observations. As a result, this raises the sufficiency of their conclusions. In addition, through the bracketing process, people are taken to an inescapable and singular discovery. This is because the discovery is in the procedure of any form of experience being conducted and no description or explanation can be elaborated. Thus, it’s only when an experience has happened that individuals can explain and describe it to some level of sufficiency (Spinelli, 2005, p. 26). However, the encounter itself as it happens exceeds the kingdom of explanation and description. It is not possible to describe or explain an experience as it happens but rather after it has happened.
What therapists are expected to do
Therefore, since the phenomenological method states that every individual has his or her interpretation of the world, therapists are supposed to handle their clients differently to render the appropriate services. In doing so, the psychotherapist should bracket her or his assumptions, biases, beliefs, hypothesis, and theories. In addition, one should explore and emphasize the patient’s immediate witting encounter of ‘being-with –another’. Lastly, the therapist should focus the examination upon its descriptive elements instead of depending on theory-directed interpretations (Spenelli, 2005, p. 146).
Mindfulness approach
Anxiety and depression survive mostly on consistent negative beliefs and thoughts. Altering these practices does not all involve willpower, but it requires one to develop mindful and objective associations with the main or key emotions which strengthen negative beliefs and thoughts. Mindfulness offers people the equipment that is necessary to develop this healthy relationship. In addition, this provides a ground for important transformation and alteration. Therefore, the mindfulness approach of psychotherapy helps in restoring plasticity during the perceptual and emotional levels. Hence, this is a significant step in the process of healing (Strong, 2010, par. 1).
Mindfulness from a psychotherapy perspective refers to the aspect of paying attention during the present period on a specific purpose without comprehending conclusions or judgments. Thus, mindfulness consciousness has the feature of openness exercises divulge which can lead to profound developments in a wide area of psychological, interpersonal, and mental domains of people’s lives. Immune, empathy, and endocrine functions are amended through mindfulness practices (Siegel, 1999, p. 32).
Third-wave
Currently, mindfulness is referred to as the ‘third wave’ in psychotherapy. The importance of the mindfulness approach is that it cannot prevent a psychotherapist’s psychotherapeutic position whether it is electric, cognitive, behavioral, psychoanalytical, or narrative. Any approach can be associated with mindfulness (Lewis, 2000, p. 20). Cognitive-behavioral and humanistic/existential approaches have been incorporated into the third wave of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) of the mindfulness approach. CBT is grounded on the concept that predicaments are a result of negative thoughts and that it’s possible to change thoughts (McLeod, 2003, p. 123). Thus, cognitive-behavioral approaches are incorporated into the third wave since they center on the future and present practices and disregards the past. The main characteristics include; the utilization of homework, training of skills to put up with symptoms, provision of data, and direction of sitting activities. Moreover, CBT is the main tool that is used to improve the access to psychological therapies (Willson & Branch, 2006, p. 78).
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is also incorporated into the third wave since it describes the way the inter-linked relapse-associated procedures of experiential avoidance and ruminative thinking result from and is continued by the actions of the performing mode of mind. Rumination refers to the act of solving or handling hard emotions through a procedure of evaluating and predicament solving. In addition, the approach is a conceptual procedure of monitoring the present practices in association with what is expected, required, desired, or dreaded with the purpose of resolving or eliminating the predicament. Similarly, the mindfulness approach entails the aspect of paying attention to the present practices without making a nay judgment (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002, p. 45-46).
CBT is a significant and realistic system or approach which aims at describing important goals and utilizes dynamic methods to achieve them. The therapists perceive the practice of behavior and thinking and the way of reinforcing these patterns and sustaining them by the individual within her or his surrounding. Once the comprehension of behavior and symptoms has been attained, the psychotherapist and patient together come up with alterations in the practices and persist with tracking them. Some of the methods and programs which are mostly related to CBT include; social skills training, relaxation training, assertiveness training, and systematic desensitization (Bachelor, 2007, p. 21).
CBT is regarded as the behavior therapy’s second wave. Acceptance and mindfulness approaches were incorporated into the CBT viewpoint in the 1990s. This is regarded as the fundamental alteration since CBT focused on control and minimization of destructive thoughts and third wave approaches focused on recognition and moving on (Hayes, Follett. & Linehan, 2004, p. 69).
The humanistic/existential approach is incorporated into the third wave because it attempts to deal with the entire person including spirit, mind, and body. In addition, the humanistic/existential is incorporated into the third wave through its aims of helping patients to search for advantageous methods of understanding challenges they encounter in their day-to-day lives. Therefore, the interest is based on the concrete of the patient, personal experience of the distress and anxiety resulting in an investigation of their value and beliefs system to clarify and comprehend these associations to the socio-cultural, psychological, particular physical context. The encounters of the future, present, and past are offered similar emphasis. The act of questioning presumptions and experiencing the restrictions and possibilities of thriving or surviving is a significant part of the dynamic, direct, and interactive approach. The four humanistic/existential predicaments in someone’s life are meaninglessness, isolation, death, and responsibility versus freedom and they are the main issues that the approach centers on.
Mindfulness in practice
A mindfulness approach is an important form of psychotherapy and it is utilized in different ways in practice. For instance, therapists practice meditation daily. Mindfulness meditation refers to the utilization of breath to inform people of the way they are living their lives. Meditation is a human, systematic, intentional activity that does not attempt to advance oneself but rather tends to identify where one is already is. Thus, therapists practice meditation to deepen their attention and consciousness, refine them, and put them to bigger realistic use in their lives. For the therapists to meditate, they should embrace the following features; patience to permit oneself to develop mindfulness and raise one meditative exercise (Batchelor, 2001, par. 6). Secondly, one should avoid holding up on things that are not beneficial. One should avoid making judgments while meditating, have trust in what one is doing to develop a mindfulness practice, and be generous to self and others to deepen inquiry and self-observation. Most therapists are using meditation to incorporate a spiritual aspect or approach into their services with several different medical problems (Brahm, 2005, p. 19).
Secondly, mindfulness works in practice when therapists are being mindful during therapy and therapists teaching and modeling mindfulness ways of being for their clients. For instance, an individual who is grieving because of losing a dear one can easily come into terms with the loss and permit pain to manifest without any extra complication when therapists are mindful of such a client. The mindfulness practice stresses one being conscious and giving up to the present and natural moment situations of body and mind (Worden, 1983, par. 12). In addition, therapists become mindful of their clients during therapy because mindfulness involves being attentive to the present experiences without grasping conclusions regarding the patient. Thus, a therapist ought to be mindful as he or she renders services to the patient to clearly understand the current conditions and apply appropriate measures that will help the patient to face the current situation and as a result overcome it. Moreover, therapists teach their clients realistic and applicable ways on how to go about hard situations. Some of these teachings may include; being aware of the situation, social skills, assertiveness training, and systematic desensitization (Hanh, 1991, par. 7-10).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the existential approach is the most appropriate form of psychotherapy since it encourages individuals to face or put up with four ultimate concerns or major areas of life; meaninglessness, death, isolation, and freedom. In addition, it encourages patients to explore the four areas of global being, and these include; spiritual, personal, physical, and social areas. Therefore, the existential approach attempts to cover all areas of an individual life.
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