Existential therapy is defined as not just a practice in psychotherapy but as a way of thinking or an attitude which aids a counselor in his therapeutic practice. There are a many prominent developers who have worked arduously to develop this philosophy. Among these are Viktor Frankl, Rollo May, Irvin Yalom and James Bugental. There are other key figures who have helped to define the nature of human existence using this application. Among these theorists are, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, Martin Buber, Ludwig Binswanger, and Medard Boss. .
It is said that there is no defined model for this theory but it is described as an attitude toward human suffering (Yalom and Josselson, 2011). This means that there are no preset rules or practices used in applying this theory, instead there is a focus on deriving themes such as mortality, meaning, freedom, responsibility, anxiety and aloneness through asking the client deep questions. It is believed by existential therapists that each individual has their own unique set of variables that influence or contribute to their current state of being. As a practioner seeks to explore the underlying factors in an individual's life, it might allow for that client to become more self-aware and be able to make better decisions about their life.
In general, the existential approach discards the view that individuals are governed by predetermined unconscious forces and past events and also the view that human beings are the end products of a particular sociocultural conditioning (Corey, 2012). The aforementioned views are held by traditional psychoanalysis and radical behaviorism, respectively. The existential approach holds that individuals are free and totally responsible for their choices and actions. Although there is often the acceptance of the fact that there are events that occur in the life of an individual, over which they have no control, the existential approach still believes that the client has power over their reaction to these events.
