Review this week’s media and consider the insights provided.

Week 8: Existential-Humanistic Therapy

“It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried.”

–Carl Rogers, from On Becoming a Person

This client-centered perspective is the cornerstone of existential-humanistic therapy, which requires therapists to “attempt to receive clients with curiosity and openness, endeavor to grasp their subjective world, and believe that clients are the experts on their own experience” (Wheeler, 2014, p. 373). As the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, it is important to understand that the effectiveness of this approach is dependent on your relationship with clients, as well as your beliefs on holism and human nature.

This week, you will compare Existential-Humanistic therapy to a therapy you select from the previous weeks of this course.

Photo Credit: Laureate Education

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Chapter 10, “Humanistic-Existential and Solution-Focused Approaches to Psychotherapy” (Review pp. 369–406)

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Nagy, T. F. (2011). Ethics in psychotherapy. In Essential ethics for psychologists: A primer for understanding and mastering core issues (pp. 185–198). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/12345-010

Required Media

Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2013). Counseling and psychotherapy theories in context and practice [Video file]. Mill Valley, CA: Psychotherapy.net.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012b). Clinical supervision follow-up [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: This is a follow-up to the Thompson family media piece in Week 5. The approximate length of this media piece is 9 minutes.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2015d). On a hamster wheel [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.

Bugental J. (n.d.). Existential-humanistic psychotherapy [Video file]. Mill Valley, CA: Psychotherapy.net.

Optional Resources

Whiteley, J. M. (Producer). (1975). Rollo May on existential psychology. New York, NY: John Whiteley. [Streaming Video]. Retrieved from Alexander Street database.

Note: You will access this media from the Walden Library databases. The approximate length of this media piece is 35 minutes.

Steinert , T. (2016, October 3). Ethics of coercive treatment and misuse of psychiatry. Psychiatric Services. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201600066.

Discussion: Comparing Existential-Humanistic Therapy to Other Types of Therapy

Understanding the strengths of each type of therapy and which type of therapy is most appropriate for each client is an essential skill of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. In this Discussion, you will compare Existential-Humanistic therapy to a therapy you select from the previous weeks of this course. You will identify the strengths and challenges of each and describe a fictional client that you think is best suited for each.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Compare types of psychotherapy

To prepare:

Review this week’s Learning Resources

Review this week’s media and consider the insights provided.

Review the other types of psychotherapy presented in this course and select the one that resonates with you the most at this time