"Existential" therapists and their group therapy practices

Existential philosophical thought insists that human behavior is indeterminate and subject only to the individual's will. It is, therefore, skeptical of all dynamic psychologies based as they are on Freudian determinism. Group therapists imbued with this philosophy stop short of its extreme. Their existential position, however, does greatly modify treatment, and yet they preserve both the form and goals of therapy. They place properly selected and prepared patients in a group where their individuality and authenticity are highly valued. Finding most technical procedures irrelevant, the therapists themselves, that is, their evolving personalities are central. The key to patient change is the spontaneous meeting of members and the therapist which the therapist orchestrates. Instead of the usual interpretation, members are encouraged to confront the paradoxes in their lives, their humanness, and especially their finitude. Patients are to be brought up to the threshold of their self-knowledge so they can choose. Choice, therefore, along with action coupled with responsibility are frequent themes. Unless the individual is incompetent, decisions made for him or her by the therapist or by group consensus are thought to be nontherapeutic.