Existential Issues

Existential issues are internal conflicts arising from the ongoing, inescapable confrontation with the givens of human existence, such as isolation, powerlessness, and the desire for meaning.

This seminar explains how people defend themselves from these painful struggles–with behavior & thinking (the ‘symptoms’) that bring them into therapy. Learn how to help patients understand that truths like these are the real issues with which they are grappling:

• Loving always involves pain.
• We are responsible for how we behave–regardless of how we are treated.
• We have made life choices with consequences we don’t like.
• We can’t prevent those we love from suffering.

Because clinicians and patients struggle with the same existential truths, they often unconsciously collude to avoid facing these challenges, leading to treatment errors and therapy drop-outs.

This creative presentation describes a practical framework therapists can use to identify, explore and resolve these common, intense, and often unaddressed challenges.