Eliciting Self-Awareness via Existential Fantasy Questions in a Half-Hour Group

Arkoff (1995) and Yalom (1980) theorized existential psychotherapy allowed for examination of degrees of freedom, meaning, or absurdity of life, anxiety, the approach of death, intimacy, or isolation within one’s life. By exposing the therapy group to fantasy or hypothetical situations, we can learn about their values, struggles, anxieties, and how much responsibility each member takes for making changes. By identifying these issues as “existential,” clients come to see their unique experiences as part of the universal drama of human existence.