ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the appearance and development of Existentialism as a clinical theory of care and practice, and also explores its role in current practice. A foundational observation at the heart of the Existentialist approach to Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis is the singular importance of the analysis of the real, living relationship of patient and therapist in the conscious present. An important piece of the story of the appearance of the Existentialist Therapies, at least in North America, was the social milieu in which they arose. Psychoanalysis, for example rests on the premise that discovering unconscious wishes, fears, defenses, and impulses (to name but a few categories) will make the patient well, however well is defined. Existential Psychotherapy is aimed at people who feel like they are unable to make sense out of their lives or life in general and cannot find meaning in their existence.
