Humanistic-existential approaches emphasize the importance of the client’s emotions and sensations. In this module, you explored a variety of these approaches, whose proponents view the client as an expert on his or her own life. They view individuals as driven to reach their full potential, or to self-actualize. The approaches involve considering the whole person, how one perceives oneself and one’s world, and how one copes with the human experience in general.

As was mentioned in the previous module, Alexander Street Press has produced a series of videos titled Five Forces of Counseling and Psychotherapy. The series includes interviews with experts on various counseling theories. Each interview is followed by one counseling session illustrating that approach. The same client, “Annie,” is featured across sessions. So the differences among the approaches can be more easily understood.

Tasks:

To prepare for this assignment, first watch clips from the interview with an expert on existential-humanistic approaches and a clip of the existential therapy session.

In a minimum of 200 words, post to the Discussion Area your responses to the following:

Discuss the expert’s comments on whether the existential-humanistic approach can be applied across cultures. What do you think? Is the approach appropriate for use across cultures, or is it primarily only a good fit for a small set of cultures? Are there specific clients who benefit more than others from this approach? Provide specific reasons and support those reasons with citation of information from additional sources.
Provide your impression of the therapy session, the counselor, and the process illustrated in the session. How does this session illustrate the existential-humanistic approach? What does the counselor do that is consistent with the existential-humanistic approach? Do you think it is a good fit for this client? Why or why not? Include specifics.
Support your rationale and analyses by using at least two resources from professional literature in your response. Professional literature may include the Argosy University online library resources; relevant textbooks; peer-reviewed journal articles; and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu or .gov).

Your discussion posts and all written assignments should reflect graduate-level writing skills and appropriate use of APA style, including in-text citations and references.

Category: Essays