Existential psychotherapy

the genetic-phenomenological approach

Daniel Sousa

pp. 129-183

in: Daniel Sousa, Existential psychotherapy, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

This chapter aims to explain how the genetic-phenomenological approach to existential psychotherapy works and how it is applied in clinical practice. So one of its main aims is to present the relational stances and the therapeutic techniques used in this approach. The chapter sets out to (a) summarize the theoretical underpinnings of existential psychotherapy and the principles supported by scientific evidence and how both can be intertwined; (b) define the goals and aims of existential psychotherapy; (c) outline the relational stances and the therapeutic techniques in this approach; (d) present research that supports interventions based on the genetic-phenomenological approach; (e) explain the process of case conceptualization and how to understand the process of change from an existential perspective.