ABSTRACT
Existential psychotherapy is a broad church encompassing a number of different strands, both in terms of ontological commitments and methodological approaches. Although there have been, and continue to be, enthusiastic attempts to delineate and define existential therapy as a unique modality in its own right, the author suggests that it is, at heart, a manner of approach informed by philosophy and characterized by an overall concern for who people are and how they are to live, rather than an adherence to any particular theory. Perspective, ambiguity, etc; these are but some of the issues forefronted and exposed in the phenomenon of crying. The emergence of crying by the therapist is often understood to be an empathic reflection of others' suffering through which our humanity emerges above and beyond the therapeutic role. There are perhaps few such significant moments in psychotherapy as when crying emerges between two people. Whatever else may be said, it is a phenomenon demanding to be noticed.
