Existential Psychoanalysi s: Rollo May

Chapter 14

Rollo May
Grew up in Michigan Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology Worked as a counselor at City College of New York and in private practice

The Existential Attitude

Existentialism emphasizes existence rather than essence No truth or reality except that we participate in it Knowledge is an act of doing Studies the structure of human existence and looks at the unity of the person prior to any split into subject and object

Our Predicament
Central problem we face is a feeling of powerlessness Anxiety = apprehension cued off by a threat to an essential value Intensified in contemporary culture by sense of isolation and alienation Loss of values = we need to discover and affirm a new set of values in our postmodern world Death

Rediscovering Selfhood
Consciousness of self is unique mark of humanity Ontological assumptions All organisms are centered on themselves and seek to preserve that center They can go out from centeredness to participate with other people Sickness is a means of preserving ones being We can engage in a level of self-consciousness that allows us to transcend the present and consider alternatives Rediscovering Feelings

May's Existential Psychoanalytic Theory

Four Stages Becoming aware of feeling and desires 1. Innocence 2. Rebellion 3. Ordinary Consciousness 4. Creative Consciousness

May's Goals of Integration

Integrating the Daimonic Experiencing our Power Rediscovering Care Facing Intentionality Freedom in Juxtaposition with Destiny Courage and Creativity Developing a New Myth

A Cry for Myth

Myth - narrative pattern that gives significance to our existence We need new myths to give our lives meaning Two possible new myths Equality of women and men Global community with no boundaries Cultural myths and the media Pick a role model in our culture How has that model helped to shape our thinking? Is it harder today to find positive images in the media?

Psychotherapy
Existentialist seeks to understand the patients mode of being and nonbeing in the world Various psychotherapeutic techniques may be used depending on which method will best reveal the existence of a particular patient Warned of use of drugs in psychotherapy, as anxiety is viewed as an inevitable human characteristic

Mays Theory in perspective

In effort to be scientific, many have lost sight of real person seeking to understand Question our presuppositions Mays theory is a philosophical view of human nature that is coherent, relevant, comprehensive, and compelling Academic psychologists tend to ignore Mays theory because they cannot treat it as a scientific hypothesis

Hate is not the opposite of love. Apathy is Rollo May