Chapter Five: Existential Therapy
1. Frankl’s ideas about why certain individuals could maintain a sense of meaning in their lives,
and thus ward off deeply painful feelings, began as result of his work with which of the
following?
2. Frankl went on to study medicine at the University of Vienna and eventually specialized in
neurology and psychiatry with a focus on ___________ and ____________.
3. Viktor Frankl is just one of many therapists who was instrumental in the development of
existential therapy. Many would also place ________ and ________ in this general school of
therapy.
4. All but which of the following are well known existential therapists?
5. While in the concentration camps, Frankl watched how some of his fellow inmates would
survive while others would lose hope and die. From this experience, he realized the importance
of:
6. Frankl believed _________ came from a will to take responsibility for oneself and to choose
to live a life of dignity and purpose.
7. Existential therapists, such as Frankl, believe all but which of the following?
8. Which of the following is not a core belief of existential therapy?
9. Which of the following is not a core belief of existential therapy?
10. Meaningfulness, as well as a limited sense of freedom, comes through the development of
consciousness and ____________ .
11. Which is not shared by both existential therapy and other humanistic approaches?
12. Which is not basic to existential therapy?
13. Existential therapists suggest that with life comes death. How is this concept used in
therapy?
14. Relative to taking responsibility for the choices we make, it is hoped that clients in
existential therapy will be come to understand:
15. Relative to techniques used, which is not true about existential therapists?
16. “From moment–to-moment, each thought, reflection, and experience that a person has
should be understood as meaningful and provide a window into that person’s understanding of
truth.” This sentence best describes:
17. What is the main purpose of mechanisms such as displacement, losing control, avoiding
autonomy, willing-denial, compulsivity, playing the victim, and certain physical diseases?
18. Individuals can be oppressed by external forces, but from the existential therapy point of
view, freedom is generally seen as _______ .
19. Existential isolation can be explained by which of the following?
20. Which is not matched correctly?
21. What type of anxiety comes from our realization of our aloneness, death and
meaninglessness?
22. What type of anxiety is developed to avoid facing essential existential issues?
23. ______ anxiety is natural and normal and comes from our realization of our aloneness,
death and meaninglessness. On the other hand, _________ anxiety is developed to avoid
facing essential existential issues.
24. Existential guilt is related to:
25. The remorseful feelings that a person has that is the result of behaving in a manner that is
damaging to self or to others (e.g., computer sex addict), is called:
26. Living authentically means:
27. The “will to meaning” is best described as:
29. Which tends not to be an existential “technique”?
30. Which of the following techniques is most associated with Existential therapy?
31. Modern-day existential therapists looked at the importance of __________ in defining who
we are and viewed the change process as a joint journey between therapist and client in which
both are deeply affected.
32. Which is true about existential therapists?
33. Ludwig Binswanger (1881-1966) suggested that we can understand the person in three
areas: the physical and biological (Umwelt), the interpersonal and social (Mitwelt), and the
__________(Eigenwelt).
34. Which of the following is incorrect?
35. The dialectical method includes which of the following?
36. I-Thou relationships in existential therapy require both the client and the therapist to
_________ and to be_________.
37. A client might be encouraged by an existential therapist in all but which of the following
ways:
38. Prescribing the symptom can be associated with which therapeutic technique?
39. De-reflection is the process of _____________ and is sometimes called ____________.
40. In order, the eight phases of existential therapy are:
41. Existential therapy focuses on _______ rather than ________.
42. Existential therapy seems to show effectiveness with which type of presenting condition:
43. The Existential therapist’s role relative to the client’s spirituality is to help the client
________ this part of his or her life and _________ the client to become more conscious of the
choices he or she has made relative to his or her spiritual life.
True/False
1. There is no place for empathy in existential therapy as it focuses more on meaning making,
2. Frankl and his family survived their time in concentration camps, and this experience
3. Frankl’s life story brings forth many of the philosophical issues basic to Existential therapy.
4. Frank coined his theory Logotherapy which was eventually called the third wave of
5. With influences from existential philosophy, theology, and phenomenology, the view of
6. Frankl influenced many, including such famous therapists as Rollo May, James Bugental, and
7. Although the manner in which Rogers, Perls and Frankl practiced therapy varied
considerably, they all based their approach on some of the tenets of existential therapy
8. Although most existential therapists agree that the ability to face life’s struggles and bring
meaning into one’s life is at least partially related to the kind of parenting one receives, in
existential therapy one need not unravel years of early childhood issues to uncover core
9. It can be humbling to examine whether one is living a meaningful existence, and it takes
11. Freedom, from an existential therapy perspective, has more to do with external factors than
12. The essence of Existential therapy is the relationship between the therapist and the client
14. Paradoxical intention involves prescribing more of the symptom to show the client that he
Matching
All of the following are ways are mechanisms an individual may use to avoid making choices
in life and to avoid life’s responsibilities. Match the word with the phrase that best highlights
the term.