Resource Tag: EXISTENTIAL THERAPIES

This chapter describes various types of psychotherapy & their application with suicidal patients. Psychoanalysis, cognitive therapy, transactional analysis, behaviour therapy are discussed in detail while primal therapy, gestalt therapy, reality therapy, person-centered therapy, & existential therapy are briefly reviewed. (62 refs.)

This chapter attempts to outline some of the critical psychological considerations & the research literature that inform society’s current understanding of the difference between a wish to die, the waning of the will to live, & depression in patients nearing death.

This article discusses the case of Anne, a woman with severe depression & suicidal ideation. The course of therapy is described in detail. (3 refs.)

The aim of this book is to explore the following systems of psychotherapy & their use for dealing with suicidal clients: 1) psychoanalytic psychotherapy; 2) primal scream therapy; 3) transactional analysis; 4) Jungian analysis; 5) person-centered therapy; 6) Gestalt therapy; 7) cognitive therapy: 8) reality therapy; 9) behaviour therapy; & 10) existential therapy.

Lester states that there are various issues that psychotherapists who treat suicidal clients need to consider. 2 of these issues are: 1) whether all of the systems of psychotherapy may be used safely with suicidal clients; & 2) is the therapeutic issue the client’s suicidal preoccupation or the problems underlying it. Lester reviews various types […]

The Native American Indian medicine wheel is regarded as a powerful healing tool. This book explains the concept of the Recovery Medicine Wheel – learning how to live in harmony with yourself, with others, & with the earth. It also shows how to use the wheel in a journey to recovery. It can help adult […]

Native American adolescents are at high risk for suicide attempts & completions. This chapter discusses Native American suicide trends, treatment issues such as intentionality, self-report measures, diagnostic protocols & the use of the DSM-III; treatment approaches such as client roles, psychoanalytical & existential foundations, family & systems therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy & group therapy & implications […]

This volume is 4th in a series of 8 from the 7th World Congress of Psychiatry held in Vienna in 1983. Topics include new paradigms in psychotherapy; short-term psychotherapies; non-verbal aspects of psychiatry; family therapy; depression; mood & emotions; psychotherapy for the developing world; psychoanalytical hospital treatment; group psychotherapy; obsessive-compulsive disorder; relaxation & imaging; neurolinguistics; […]

Notes that postvention is rarely studied. Simon (1985) recommends group therapy for catharsis. Related papers note the importance of guilt feelings. Battle (1984) recommends that care begin within 24 hours, with intensive psychotherapy only after 3 to 4 weeks. Orientation of therapy should be between psychodynamic & supportive, with cognitive, but not behavioural, approaches to […]

The purpose of this study was to provide a philosophical analysis of self-destructive behavior from an existential frame of reference. An examination of attitudes toward suicide throughout history revealed positions of total acceptance to rigid condemnation. The author sees suicide as an individual’s last exercise of the ultimate existential freedom, the freedom to live or […]

The self-mutilatory behavior of female adolescents in a correctional institution is described and an innovative treatment program, “Co-opting”, which is effective in eliminating this self-injurious behavior is discussed. “Co-opting” is based on an unusual conceptualization of self-injurious behavior and an unorthodox approach to patient management.

This case history of a 37 year old male with an extensive history of psychiatric treatment illustrates the success of psychotherapy focusing on the positive dimensions of a patient’s personality. The therapist refused to become involved with his acting out behavior in everyday life, requiring only that he attend sessions regularly. This focus on here […]

Author Burstow critically examines Binswanger’s existential philosophy as it applies to schizophrenia. According to this interpretation, the individual has personal constructs through which experiences are filtered. As the individual matures, experiences may clash with this matrix: given loving support from others, he adapts. Lack of support threatens him & he may filter the experience to […]

Describes inmate personality characteristics & paradoxical techniques used in 4 interventions in a prison psychiatric facility. The cases of male inmates involved malingering, possible suicide, parental problem behaviors, & manipulation of the system. It is suggested that in selected cases, paradoxical strategies tap the client’s strengths, help avoid adversarial relationships & power struggles, & produce […]

The author postulates that suicide itself is not pathological, but that the self-deceptions used as premises for the death decision may be. The author asserts that the challenge for treatment professions is to distinguish “legitimate” from “illegitimate” suicides on the basis of whether or not such self-deceptions are posited to involve existential issues of self, […]

The practice of Morita therapy with persons experiencing emotional difficulty, & the implications for suicide prevention are explained. Based on the premise that emotions are uncontrolled by mental effort, the therapy directs clients to build life on behaviour & on living with attention to each moment’s activity. Suicidal thoughts & impulses which can not be […]

This case history of a 24 year old suicidal female, admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of psychotic depressive disorder, demonstrates the effectiveness of art as a therapy. The patient was able to reduce tension from aspects of her personality (hostility, sexuality, dependency, anxiety, suicidal ideation) that had previously overwhelmed her, by expressing these emotions […]

In certain patients, suicidality is not a symptom of another psychiatric disorder, but a central element of character structure. Treatment approaches that are effective in acute, symptomatic suicidal states may actually increase the long term suicide risk in such patients. Special treatment techniques are needed for patients with suicidal characterology.

A detailed case description & the analyses of an European woman who committed suicide near the turn of the century are described. Excerpts from Ellen West’s diary are used to illustrate her obsession with food & her developing illness. Shortly after release from the Kreuzlingen Sanitorium, where she was seen by Kraepelin, Bleuler & others, […]

The possibility of suicide in severely depressed patients poses a threat both to the patient & to the therapist. The therapist’s fear of suicide is likely to result in overcautiousness. Consequently, the essential qualities of openness & availability tend to suffer. Threats of suicide may occur in the context of different life structures. The psychotherapist […]

This paper combines psychoanalytic and existential dynamics in an effort to establish a base for the study of flight phobia. It is hypothesized that flight phobia interweaves with suicidal movement. A procedure is outlined for assessment of suicidal risk which is applicable in method and content to assesssment of flight risk in phobia.

Suicidal bereavement involves more than the personalized reaction to the death of another. The bereaved is also left with the cognitive & emotional dilemma of death as a chosen option for existence. This existential contradition creates enduring changes in cognitive & emotional perspective. The author reviews these changes and their therapeutic implications.