Existential Therapy Essay

The systems that I had originally identified most strongly with throughout my semester in Music in Psychotherapy were Person-Centered Therapy and Existential Therapy. Upon further research, I learned of Gestalt Therapy, which is an existential form of psychotherapy. We did not research this particular form in class, but found this system to be quite intriguing and felt that aspects of it would combine nicely with the others. Though I would very much like to, I have never been to any type of therapy in which I was the client. After doing the first reading for this class, which was the Person-Centered Therapy chapter, I quickly realized that even just studying the different systems on my own would become very beneficial to my own mental health. I also realized how difficult it would be. Certain activities and ideas that I was presented with in both Person-Centered and Existential presentations were actually quite painful for me to be apart of. These activities raised my level of awareness, as they were intended to do. In a way, they asked me to face certain things about myself and the world around me that I was not so sure that I like. At first, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be aware.
I decided early on that I would allow myself to experience these feelings fully, because in order to be a good therapist, I need to be able to understand how the client might be feeling. I am still just beginning this journey, but I have every intention of becoming more open to embracing the new awareness that I have found in this class. This paper describing my philosophy will incorporate all three of these systems of psychotherapy in what I believe to be a clear and cohesive manner.
I. Definition of Underlying Theories
The main goal of Person-Cen...

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...ed from Gestalt Therapy, if a client who might be stuck at an impasse in their maturation process attempts to manipulate the therapist in a way that is not progressive in their treatment, the therapist must be honest with the client about what it is that their doing. By remaining genuine, authentic and mature, the therapist acts almost as a model for the client. The client can become aware that the therapist is vulnerable as well and is also taking a risk in being open and honest in their sessions.

Grant, S. K. (n.d.). Gestalt therapy. Informally published manuscript, Psychology, California State University Northridge, . Retrieved from http://www.csun.edu/~hcpsy002/Psy460_Ch08_Handout_ppt.pdf

Prochaska, J. O., & Norcross, J. C. (2009). Gestalt and experiential therapies. In Systems of psychotherapy: A transtheoretical analysis(7th ed., pp. 160-192). Brooks/Cole