International Journal of Existential

Psychology & Psychotherapy

Supplementary Elements of a
Comprehensive Existential
Psychology:
A Response to Paul T.P. Wongs
editorial, Existential Psychology for
the 21st Century
Thomas Mengel1

In

a convincing and very comprehensive

approach Paul T. P. Wong (2004) has set out
to redefine existential psychology and to
create its body of knowledge. He rightly
reminds us of the need to reflect on real
people in concrete situations (p. 1) as
opposed to remaining on the conceptual
level. Furthermore, by presenting some
fundamental questions relevant to the
survival of humanity and the well-being of
every individual (p. 1) Paul lays the
foundation for a valuable and meaningful
discussion and development of a
comprehensive existential psychology.
The following three theses (see Mengel,
2002) may thus serve as complementary
ideas and suggestions:
1) A human being first of all aspires to
organize his or her life to be meaningful
and values-oriented. In choosing from
the various categories of values within
the different areas of living, one uses
patterns typical for ones type of
personality. The plan of ones individual
life and its realization, however, express
ones
personal
and
individual
handwriting.
2) A person organizes his or her life within
natural and cultural relations and
1

Thomas Mengel works as an independent

consultant, coach and trainer on project management
and leadership. He also teaches in the Centre for
Innovative Management at Athabasca University and
at the University of Victoria. Correspondence
regarding this article should be directed to
thomas@integralconsulting.ca.

www.existentialpsychology.org

Volume 1, Issue 1, July 2004

towards
individual
and
social
orientation. Thereby he or she uses the
following categories of values and
meaning: experience, creation, and
attitude. The different levels of
organization are: mind, soul, and body.
Ones instruments for orientation and
control are intuition and feeling as well
as reason and conscience.
3) Everybody feels ones life to be full of
meaning and intact, in as much as one
orientates oneself towards the richness
of what one shall, will and can do, and
as far as one indeed translates that into
action. Wherever one stays behind, one
feels ones life to be broken and limited
according to the tragic triad of grief,
guilt and death. In freely and responsibly
organizing ones life and by consciously
dealing with ones failures and limits
one becomes the entrepreneur of ones
personal and social future.
In summary, I would like to add that in
order to be fully comprehensive and
supportive of real people in concrete
situations (p. 1), the International Journal
on Existential Psychology & Psychotherapy
needs to supplement its research on and
discussion of the fundamentals of human
existence. Besides answering the question of
what (fundamental concepts) I suggest to
elaborate on the essentials of why and what
for (common and individual orientation and
motivation) and to provide practical
guidelines along the how (personal coaching
and therapy) of human and individual
existence.
References
Bckmann, W. (1998). Sinn in Arbeit,
Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Bielefeld,
Germany: Littera Publikationen.
Bschemeyer, U. (1994). Vom Typ zum
Original. Lahr, Germany: SKV-Edition.

107

International Journal of Existential

Psychology & Psychotherapy

Volume 1, Issue 1, July 2004

Mengel, T. (2002). Values-Oriented

Leadership. Presentation at the Second
Biannual International Conference on
Personal Meaning, Vancouver, July
2002.
Mengel, T (2000). Fhrung und
Persnlichkeit Fhrungstechniken
wertorientiert einsetzen. Existenz und
Logos. Zeitschrift fr sinnzentrierte
Therapie, Beratung, Bildung, 2000(2),
140-143.
Wong, P. T. P (2004). Editorial: Existential
psychology for the 21st century.
International Journal of Existential
Psychology and Psychotherapy, 1, 12.

www.existentialpsychology.org

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