Existential Psychotherapy and the Interpretation of Dreams

Existential Psychotherapy and the Interpretation of Dreams
Author: Clark E. Moustakas
Publisher: Jason Aronson, Incorporated
Total Pages: 231
Release: 1996-03-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1461628431

Existential Psychotherapy and the Interpretation of Dreams, by Clark Moustakas, presents a fresh model for the effective integration of dreamwork in humanistically oriented psychotherapy. The existential-phenomenological emphasis opens channels of conscious awareness that enable people in therapy and in everyday living to awaken to their own visions, hopes, and dreams. The internal shadows and fires of individual consciousness come to light in therapy and in dreams and invite self-resources and self-directions for change in self-growth and in significant relationships. An Existential Model is presented in detail as a guide to effective psychotherapy. With slight modification, the Model is also applicable to an understanding and interpretation of one's own dreams as well as the dreams of people who are in therapy. Through existential awareness and reflective thinking, the reader is encouraged to discover constructive challenges and paradoxes that connect dreams with waking life and lead to the discovery of creative possibilities for work and living. The existential approach to psychotherapy and dream interpretation is explicated through examples of phenomenological interviewing, use of description in lifting out horizons and core meanings, and analysis of core themes that intimately embrace the self. Existential philosophy recognizes mystery encompasses the unknown and unpredictable and asserts that regardless of past suffering and impoverishment, the potentials for health and well-being are within reach. The Existential Model offers a practical methodology and a set of guides for achieving these goals and finding a future that moves beyond the restraints and rejections that have resulted from choosing the wrong path for identity expression and selfhood. The person is the central catalyst for decision and action and retains control over her or his own destiny.

Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life

Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
Author: James Hollis
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2005-05-05
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1101216697

What does it really mean to be a grown up in today’s world? We assume that once we “get it together” with the right job, marry the right person, have children, and buy a home, all is settled and well. But adulthood presents varying levels of growth, and is rarely the respite of stability we expected. Turbulent emotional shifts can take place anywhere between the age of thirty-five and seventy when we question the choices we’ve made, realize our limitations, and feel stuck—commonly known as the “midlife crisis.” Jungian psycho-analyst James Hollis believes it is only in the second half of life that we can truly come to know who we are and thus create a life that has meaning. In Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Hollis explores the ways we can grow and evolve to fully become ourselves when the traditional roles of adulthood aren’t quite working for us, revealing a new way of uncovering and embracing our authentic selves. Offering wisdom to anyone facing a career that no longer seems fulfilling, a long-term relationship that has shifted, or family transitions that raise issues of aging and mortality, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life provides a reassuring message and a crucial bridge across this critical passage of adult development.

The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy

The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy
Author: Erik Craig
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 832
Release: 2019-04-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1119167175

An existential therapy handbook from those in the field, with its broad scope covering key texts, theories, practice, and research The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy is a work representing the collaboration of existential psychotherapists, teachers, and researchers. It's a book to guide readers in understanding human life better through the exploration of aspects and applications of existential therapy. The book presents the therapy as a way for clients to explore their experiences and make the most of their lives. Its contributors offer an accurate and in-depth view of the field. An introduction of existential therapy is provided, along with a summary of its historical foundations. Chapters are organized into sections that cover: daseinsanalysis; existential-phenomenonological, -humanistic, and -integrative therapies; and existential group therapy. International developments in theory, practice and research are also examined.

Working with Dreams in Psychotherapy

Working with Dreams in Psychotherapy
Author: Clara E. Hill
Publisher: Guilford Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 1996-05-03
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9781572300927

Working with dreams in therapy can help clients establish a focus and reach core issues quickly, and can play an important clinical role in both brief and long-term therapeutic relationships. This accessible volume integrates the latest research on sleep and dreaming with a cognitive-experiential psychotherapeutic perspective, providing a comprehensive guide to dream interpretation. In clear, jargon-free prose, elucidated by extensive case material, the author presents a three-stage model of dream interpretation based on the premises that dreams reflect waking life, that their meaning is best understood in a collaborative effort between client and therapist, and that both cognitions and emotions are important in this process. An Appendix contains a reproducible, self-guided manual on dream interpretation featuring step-by-step instructions and worksheets. This Appendix is an ideal resource for therapists to use with clients.

Working with Dreams

Working with Dreams
Author: Montague Ullman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2017-09-07
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1351601644

Originally published in 1979, this is a dream book with an outstanding difference: it takes the interpretation of dreams out of the realm of the professionals and gives it to the ultimate expert – the dreamer. Working with Dreams stresses the uniqueness of every dream and dreamer. With anecdotes and examples from their own dream groups, the authors show how to deal with the intimacy and honesty of a dream; how to explore its meanings without distorting them; how to let a dream tell us about ourselves and add to our understanding. Dr Ullman and Mrs Zimmerman start with the question of what is in a dream – what is real and what is symbolic? – and then go on to explain what happens during sleep and the way a dream develops. They cover remembering and recording dreams and dealing with the imagery of dreams. They illustrate the many predicaments that dreams depict, the self-deceptions we practice in relation to our dreams, and then show how dream groups – whether a family or a group of strangers – can work together to uncover the meaning of dreams. And they enrich their book by discussing everything from the history of dreams to the possibilities of dreams across space and time. The result is a storehouse of information about the world of dreams.

Existential Therapy

Existential Therapy
Author: Susan Iacovou
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2015-04-10
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1317485416

Less of an orientation and more a way of understanding the challenges of being human, existential therapy draws on rich and diverse philosophical traditions and ways of viewing the world. Traditionally it has been seen as difficult to summarise and comprehend and the air of mystery surrounding existential ideas has been exacerbated by the dense language often used by philosophers and practitioners. Existential Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques provides a comprehensive and accessible guide to a fascinating and exciting body of knowledge, and the therapeutic approach it informs. Divided into five parts the topics covered include: Existentialism – inception to present day Theoretical assumptions Existential phenomenological therapy in practice Ethics and existential therapy Bringing it all together Existential Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques will be essential reading for all trainee and qualified counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists and psychiatrists who want to use the wisdom of existential ideas in their work with clients. It will also benefit clients and potential clients who want to find out how existential ideas and existential therapy can help them explore what it means to be alive.

Existential Psychology East-West (Volume 1 - Revised and Expanded Edition)

Existential Psychology East-West (Volume 1 - Revised and Expanded Edition)
Author: Louis Hoffman
Publisher: University Professors Press
Total Pages: 836
Release: 2020-06-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1939686334

Existential Psychology East-Westis a collection of chapters exploring existential psychology in a cross-cultural context. The original version was published in preparation for the First International Conference on Existential Psychology held in Nanjing, China in 2010. This revised and expanded edition includes several updated chapters as well as four new chapters. The book consists of three sections. The first section provides an introduction to existential-humanistic psychotherapy along with a case illustration. Section two contains 13 chapters from Eastern and Western scholars exploring the theory of existential psychology. The third section contains 10 chapters building from Rollo May's work on myth. Each chapter explores the existential themes of a myth embedded within a particular cultural context. The book concludes with an Annotated Bibliography of important works in existential psychology. Existential Psychology East-Westis an important contribution to the field with many influential Eastern and Western scholars including Kirk Schneider, Xuefu Wang, Ilene Serlin, Mark Yang, Ed Mendelowitz, Heyong Shen, Erik Craig, Myrtle Heery, Alan G. Vaughan, Louis Hoffman, and Nathaniel Granger, Jr.

Skills in Existential Counselling & Psychotherapy

Skills in Existential Counselling & Psychotherapy
Author: Emmy van Deurzen
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2016-05-16
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1473984882

This is the definitive practical introduction to a skills-based approach in existential therapy. Accessible for those without a philosophical background, it describes the concrete and tangible skills, tasks and interactions of existential practice. It covers the theoretical background and history of existential therapy, along with taking a phenomenological approach to practice and individual clients. This second edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect recent thinking, and expanded to include: * A new chapter on the applications of existential therapy in wider contexts, such as supervision and coaching. * A new chapter covering professional issues and challenges, such as working in the NHS, engaging with research and the use of the Internet in existential therapy. * A companion website which includes video content, featuring the authors explaining each chapter’s underpinning theory, and demonstrating the principles in practice. A much needed resource for trainees as well as experienced practitioners keen to expand their knowledge, the authors make the existential approach accessible to all those who wish to find out what it has to offer.