Following the innovative first edition which she co-authored with her late father, Freddie Strasser, in the newly revised Second Edition of Time-Limited Existential Therapy: The Wheel of Existence, distinguished therapist Alison Strasser delivers an insightful aid to integrating and working with existential givens as they arise within a therapeutic encounter. She locates the concept of Time as central to all therapies, regardless of their theoretical modality, and demonstrates how it can be used in brief, short-term, and open-ended therapies.
The book relies on the concept of The Wheel to provide a framework for understanding existential and phenomenological philosophies and to help readers put them into practice with clients. It includes meaningful case vignettes that bring existential themes to life and is accessible to both therapists and interested lay members of the public.
Finally, the author highlights how our experience with COVID-19 has impacted, and been impacted by, the existential themes we all deal with on a regular basis.
- A thorough overview of a commonsense existential approach and a discussion of the mystery of time
- Practical discussions of the limitations and possibilities of time-limited existential therapies, as well as concepts and methods in the area.
- Comprehensive explorations of the tyranny of high morality, and examinations of the body, the "givents" and "connectedness".
Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xvii
About the Author xviii
Part I 1
1 Existential and Phenomonological Philosophies and the Wheel of Existence 3
2 Core of the Wheel: Time and Self 14
3 Time in Therapy: The Principal Concepts of Existential Time-Limited Therapy 20
4 Approaches to Time-Limited Therapy 30
Part II 39
Layers and Leaves: Ontologicals and Ontics 41
The Ontological Layer: Universalising 43
5 The Ontological ‘Givens’ 44
Stepping Through the Ontic Leaves: Individualising 54
6 Working with The Phenomenological Process 56
7 Establishing Safety 73
8 Discovering Anxiety 81
9 Revealing the Relationship 93
10 Exploring the Four Worlds 104
11 Clarifying the Worldview 112
12 Working with Paradox and Polarities 123
13 Identifying Choices and Meaning 132
14 Integrating Mind and Body 141
15 Understanding Authenticity 147
Afterword: COVID-19 156
References 162
Index 168