ABSTRACT
In this alternative chapter, pioneering existential therapist James Bugental stretches the proverbial envelope with his sketches for a short-term existential approach. While this proposal may seem at odds with the common understanding of existential-integrative approaches, this is not necessarily the case. To the extent that existential approaches are understood as attitudes, atmospheres, and life encounters, they are not inconsistent with brief or even momentary interpersonal engagements. R. D. Laing, for example (as discussed in Part 2), was legendary for his one-session encounters, and, as we shall see with both Dr. Bugental and Dr. John Galvin in the illustrations to follow, short-term approaches can provide a taste or a start toward longterm reawakening. As Bugental emphasizes, however, short-term existential therapy is rarely a substitute for its long-term, holistic counterpart, and beginning movements can rarely be equated with consolidated shis. In this light, Bugental and Galvin’s proposals must be viewed in the pragmatic and sometimes spontaneous contexts in which they are initiated, and not overrated. As Galvin so eloquently frames it, short-term existential therapy at its best emulates the encounters of “two road-weary travelers, meeting by the re in the corner of a dimly lit inn. . . . In the morning, these travelers will part but each will feel more prepared for the journey that remains.”
