Psychosocial interventions are vital therapeutic options for a variety of psychiatric illnesses that may be employed alone or in conjunction with pharmacologic agents. Humanistic-existential psychotherapy is a sort of psychosocial intervention that helps patients gain transcendental abilities over their situations. Humanistic-existential therapy promotes comprehension of the human experience rather than symptoms and aims to increase client self-awareness and self-understanding (Schneider, 2019). The goal of this paper is to present an overview of humanistic-existential therapy, followed by a discussion of its differences from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is also a widespread psychotherapy intervention used in the treatment of mood, anxiety, and psychotic diseases. Furthermore, with reference to a video of a therapy session in progress, the discussion explains why humanistic-existential therapy was chosen as the treatment of choice.
Humanistic-existential therapy is based on a compassionate relationship with patients and focuses on the client’s individual experiences rather than the symptoms. The treatment emphasizes unconditional positive regard as a humanistic value, while freedom and responsibility are stressed as existential virtues (Schneider, 2019). The central constructs of humanistic therapy, of which person-centered therapy is a paragon, include self-actualizing tendency (be all that you can be), self and ideal self, conditions of worth, and relational transparency, in which genuineness, empathy, acceptance, and caring form the therapeutic approach (Grande, 2016).
The therapist focuses on the client and provides a comfortable setting for positive growth while conducting treatment. In addition, the therapist encourages the client to be open and honest while expressing himself/herself. The therapy session is based on the client’s set objectives. Thus, the name patient-centered therapy, and it also fosters the client’s independence in terms of decision-making (Grande, 2016). The core constructs of existential therapy are phenomenology, ultimate concerns, and defenses.
Phenomenology refers to the client’s direct or immediate experiences. In contrast, the ultimate concerns are the thoughts that trigger anxiety, such as death, isolation, meaninglessness, and the desperate need to acquire freedom, which creates anxiety and the necessity to act. Defenses are acts that a person does to avoid anxiety. As a result, the treatment embraces worry as a positive force that aids in the achievement of objectives.
CBT is a form of psychotherapy that stresses the significance of thoughts and perception in shaping thoughts and behaviors. People suffering from psychosis, mood, or anxiety disorders may have unpleasant thoughts and perceptions that are harmful to them or others in their immediate surroundings. As a result, CBT employs a problem-solving approach to educate individuals on how to modify their thinking and control their emotions in stressful circumstances (Chand et al., 2022). CBT is extremely educational and employs assignments, homework, and experimenting with new ways of behaving and responding to identities to transform inaccurate or unrealistic ways of thinking, which in turn influences emotions and actions.
The first distinction is that although humanistic-existential treatment emphasizes the relevance of the client’s self-awareness and self-understanding, CBT is based on behavioral traditions. Patient-centered therapy, a type of humanistic-existential therapy, for example, creates an environment in which the therapist forms a therapeutic alliance with the patient, encourages freedom of choice and the potential for meaningful change, and allows therapy to proceed based on the patient’s expectations and goals (Heidenreich et al., 2021). When dealing with individuals suffering from drug addiction problems, for example, promoting their independence and self-awareness may be the first step toward avoiding substance usage.
Conversely, CBT focuses on tactics for changing a person’s negative beliefs, which ultimately influence their actions and behaviors. The second distinction is the length of treatment. Humanistic-existential therapy may be utilized for short-term treatment of drug misuse problems, but if a lifetime journey and development are necessary, the therapy may be everlasting. On the other hand, CBT requires a short course of 5-20 sessions lasting 30-60 minutes and taking place once a week or every two weeks (Heidenreich et al., 2021).
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