Clinical Psychology

A crucial facet of personality is decision mak-
ing, which involves the world of both facts and
possibilities. Thus, personality is not just what one
is—a biological, social, and psychological being—
but also what one might become. Many existen-
tialists believe that decision making involves a set
of inevitable choices. One can choose the present
(the status quo), which represents lack of change
and a commitment to the past. That choice will
lead to guilt and remorse over missed opportunities.
But one can also choose alliance with the future.
That choice propels the person into the future with
an anxiety that stems from one’s inability to predict
and control the unknown. Such experiences of
guilt and anxiety are not learned but are part of
the essence of living. It requires courage to choose

the future and suffer the inevitable anxieties that

this choice entails. A person can find that courage

by having faith in self and by recognizing that

choosing the past will inevitably lead to a guilt

that is even more terrifying than anxiety.

The Goals of Therapy. The ultimate goal of

existential psychotherapy is to help the individual

reach a point at which awareness and decision mak-

ing can be exercised responsibly. The exercise of

cognitive abilities will allow for the achievement

of higher states of love, intimacy, and constructive

social behavior. Through therapy, one must learn

to accept responsibility for one’s own decisions and

to tolerate the anxiety that accumulates as one

moves toward change. This involves self-trust and

change, and to this end, I have developed and written

about an emotion-focused approach to individuals and

couples.

What are the future trends you see for

clinical psychology?

I believe that eventually there will be a single area of

study, mental health or psychotherapy, integrating the

various disciplines—clinical psychology, social work,

psychiatry (maybe), and nursing—and the different

levels of intervention—biological, psychological, social,

and so on—plus an end to schools of therapy and the

school wars.

What are some future trends you see for

experiential/humanistic-existential therapy?

I see experiential therapy as overcoming its heritage of

being seen as involving“just”listening, being based on

the view of people as having an actualizing tendency

that is an inner guide to health, and that simply get-

ting in touch with one’s feelings will lead to health.

Although there is some truth in all these statements, I

see these as becoming more differentiated and modi-

fied as our understanding of functioning increases.

Experiential therapy will develop theoretically beyond

its original statements into a more sophisticated view

of human functioning, based on emotion and

constructivist theory and research. It will offer a

process view of functioning and therapy, offering more

detail on in-session states that are amenable to partic-

ular types of intervention and how change in these

states occurs. I also see experiential therapy as becom-

ing more research based. Ultimately, it will become

integrated into a non-school-based approach offering

an understanding of in-session process.

Leslie S. Greenberg

Dr. Leslie S. Greenberg, Psychology Dept., York, Univ., Toronto, Canada.

PSYCHOTHERAPY: PHENOMENOLOGICAL AND HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL PERSPECTIVES 383