the theory and practice of group psychotherapy- Irvin Yalom

Running Head : THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY

The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

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The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

The aim of group psychotherapy is grasping the clients ' entire self-and-world construct ' in to identify the awareness-constricting and awareness-distorting ways of defining oneself and the world (p . 232 . The aim is to modify those limiting and constricting patterns (p . 237 ) and free the client so that she can realize her potential . Irvin Yalom (b . 1931 ) develops this theme

of existential freedom in his important book , Existential Psychotherapy . In Yalom 's view (1980 ,

. 218 , the authentic individual is one who is aware of responsibility ' which means being aware of creating one 's own self , destiny , life predicament , feelings and , if such be the case one 's own suffering ' This conception of freedom , he notes , is derived from Sartre . Sartre considered it his project to liberate individuals from bad faith [in most cases , the self-deception of thinking one is not free] and to help them assume responsibility . It is the psychotherapist 's project as well (p . 222

Irvin Yalom points out that our present age is one of disintegration of cultural and historical mores , of love and marriage , the family , the inherited religions , and so forth . This disintegration is the reason that psychotherapy of all sorts has burgeoned in the twentieth century ' As Yalom observe , most people who seek help today suffer not from hysteria or compulsive hand washing but from loneliness isolation , and alienation ' and from 'character neuroses ' which is another of existential neurosis . the condition of the person who feels life is meaningless (Yolm , 1989 , pp . 399-400

Following Sartre , Yalom holds that humans constitute the meaning of the situations they encounter , and they should recognize that they have created their own unhappiness . Thus the therapist must continually operate within the frame of reference that a patient has created his or her own distress (p . 231 . Only by acknowledging that one has created one 's own dysphoria ' can the individual achieve autonomy and his or her full potential (p . 268 . Here Yalom agrees with Schneider and May (1995 ,

. 6 , who say that confronting one 's freedom is enlivening and health-promoting it promotes a more vibrant invigorating life-design . exemplified by increased sensitivity flexibility , and choice

From its inception , existential psychotherapy has been concerned not so much with devising new techniques or accounts of psychic dynamics as with trying to understand the human being in the fullest way as an experiencing , desiring , and willing whole . From this standpoint , we have to understand causal processes and forces in terms of their place within the holistic fabric of meanings that make up the individual 's life . The emphasis is on the concrete , existing human , not on abstract generalizations or high-level intellectual constructs . Like their philosophical precursors , existential psychotherapists see human existence as an event , something that is always in the process of becoming , always developing in time (May...