MAY: EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY
exist in the world of thinking, active, and
Overview of Existential Psychology
 Existential psychology began in Europe
shortly after World War II
 A clinical psychologist by training, May
took the view that modern people
frequently run away from making
choices and from assuming
responsibility.
 He saw people as living in the world of
present experiences and ultimately
being responsible for who they become.
 Many people lack the courage to fulfill
their destiny, and in the process of
fleeing from they give up a great deal of
their freedom.
 Having negated this freedom, they also
run from their responsibility
 Not being willing to make choices, they
will lose who they are and develop a
sense of significance and alienation
 In contrast, healthy people challenge
their destiny, cherish their freedom, and
live authentically with other people and
with themselves. They recognize the
inevitability of death and have the
courage to live in the present.
BACKGROUND OF EXTENTIALISM
 Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish
philosopher, and theologian is usually
considered to be the founder of modern
existentialism.
 Like later existentialists, he emphasized
the trend in post-industrialized societies
towards the dehumanizing of people.
He opposed the attempt to see people
as objects, but also rejected the idea
that subjective perspective is the only
reality.
 He was concerned with the person's
experiences and the experience of the
experiencing person.
 He wished to understand people as they
willing beings.
 Like later existentialists, he emphasized
a balance between freedom and
responsibility.
 People acquire freedom of action by
expanding their self-awareness and by
assuming responsibility for their actions.
 However, this acquisition of freedom
and responsibility is achieved at the
expense of anxiety and dread.
 As people realize that they, ultimately,
are in charge of their own destiny, they
experience the burden of freedom and
pain of responsibility.
What is Existentialism?
 A philosophical movement led by Soren
Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin
Heidegger, and popularized by Jean-Paul
Sartre, Albert Camus
 Kierkegaard, emphasized a balance
between freedom and responsibility.
- People acquire freedom of action
through expanding their self-awareness
and then by assuming responsibility for
their actions. The acquisition of freedom
and responsibility, however, is achieved
only at the expense of anxiety. As
people realize that, ultimately, they are
in charge of their own destiny, they
experience the burden of freedom and
the pain of responsibility.
- Focuses on who we really are and the
meaning/purposes of life
- Freedom, responsibility, and death
1. Existence precedes essence
Existence Essence
Means to emerge Implies a static
to become, being; immutable
becoming substance
Suggests process Refers to a product
(main ingredient of
a person)
 Growth and change Stagnation and
finality
o Existentialism assumes that our
behavior, our actions, our decisions,
our being will determine who we
are as a person, or our essence as a
person.
o Existentialism affirms that people’s
essence is their power to continually
redefine themselves through the
choices they make. (doomed to be
liberated; we are solely responsible
for ourselves)
o Existence (process, change) before
Essence (product, final goal)
2. Existentialism opposes the split between
subject and object.
o People are both subjective and
objective, not one or the other, and
they must search for truth by living
an active and authentic life.
o They don’t want to be viewed as a
current object (object to be studied
or dissected); seek meaningful
experiences to be authentic
o People are both subjective and
objective (can’t separate these two)
3. People search for some meaning to their
lives.
o People ask the important questions
that bring meaning to their lives
and their being. Who am I? Is this
life worth living? Does it have a
meaning? How can I realize my
humanity?
o Freedom to choose the meaning of
our existence
4. Existentialists hold that ultimately each
of us is responsible for who we are and
what we become.
o We cannot blame anyone else.
Although we may associate with
others in healthy and productive
ways, ultimately, we are each alone.
We can choose to become what we
can be, or we can choose to avoid
commitment and choice.
o As Satre (1957) said, “Man in
nothing else but what he makes of
himself. Such is the first principle of
existentialism”
o Even if we acquire influence from
other people, they can’t be blamed
for what will happen to us. (own
choices and decisions)
5. Existentialists are basically
antitheoretical.
o Authentic experiences are to take
precedent over artificial
explanations. When experiences are
molded into some preexisting
theoretical model, they lose their
authenticity and become divorced
from the individual who
experiences them.
o Antitheoretical- we are not boxed
as theories = objects because it is
dehumanizing (which they oppose)
Basic Concepts of Existential Psychology
Dasein – (being-in-the-world)
 A phenomenological approach to
understand humanity.
 Unity of human and environment
 The idea that people exist in their own
subjective world or being-in-the-world is
what Dasein means.
 We exist in a world that can be best
understood from our own perspective
(in-the-world).
 As people try to gain power over nature
and come to rely on the products of the
industrial revolution, they lost touch
with their relationship with the natural
world and become more alienated and
out of touch with their body as well. (we
became more disconnected to it; we
miss our union with nature, other
people, and ourselves)
 This feeling of isolation and alienation of
self from the world is suffered not only
by pathologically disturbed individuals
but also by most individuals in modern
societies. (they don’t know who they
are)
 This is the illness of our time, and it
manifests itself in three ways:
1. Separation from nature
2. Lack of meaningful interpersonal
relations
3. Separation from one’s authentic
self.
3 modes of Dasein:
1. UMWELT or the environment around
us- mode of being in relation to the
world/nature
o World exists even if people had no
awareness; biological drives such as
anger and sleep
o Birth and death; we cannot escape
umwelt, we must learn to adjust to
the changes
2. MITWELT, or our relations with other
people- mode of being in relation to
other people
o We must see people as people, not
objects
3. EIGENWELT, or our relationship with our
self - mode of being in relation to our
Self
o Aware of oneself as human beings
(who we are as we relate to the
world and other people)
Healthy people live in Umwelt, Mitwelt, and
Eigenwelt simultaneously. They adapt to
the natural world, relate to others as
humans, and have a keen awareness of
what all these experiences mean to them
(May).
Nonbeing
 Awareness that we will not live forever,
awareness of nothingness
 Death is the only avenue of nonbeing,
but it is the most obvious one. (our life
became more meaningful when we face
the idea of death)
 If not confronted, we may experience
nonbeing through addiction, sexual
activities, and other compulsive
behavior
 Can also be expressed as blindness and
conformity to society’s expectations or
as a generalized to hostility that
pervades our relations with others
 The fear of death or nonbeing often
provokes us to live defensively and to
receive less from life than if we would
confront the issue of our existence. As
May said, “we are afraid of nonbeing
and so we shrivel up our being”
THE CASE OF PHILIP
 Rollo May helped illustrate his concepts
of existential theory and therapy by the
case of Philip, a successful architect in
his mid-50s.
 Despite his apparent success, Philip
experienced severe anxiety when his
relationship with Nicole (a writer in her
mid-40s) took a puzzling turn. (Nicole
fell in love with her college friend during
their relationship. Nicole eventually
came back to Philip, saying she didn’t
love the friend, which made him
confused.)
 Philip was against Nicole’s idea of
marriage because of his two divorces.
 Uncertain of his future and suffering
from low self- esteem, Philip went into
therapy with Rollo May. Eventually,
Philip was able to understand that his
difficulties with women were related to
his early experiences with a mother who
was unpredictable and an older sister
who suffered from severe mental
disorders.
 However, he began to recover only after
he accepted that his "need" to take care
of unpredictable Nicole was merely part
 of his personal history with unstable
women.
Rollo May’s Theory - the existential belief
that with freedom comes responsibility, and
that attempts to escape from freedom and
responsibility cause existential angst
(anxiety).
ANXIETY
 People experience this when they
become aware that their existence or
some value identified with it might be
destroyed. (experienced by everyone)
 Anxiety can spring either from an
awareness of one's nonbeing from a
threat to some value essential to one's
existence
 The acquisition of freedom inevitably
leads to anxiety. Freedom cannot exist
without anxiety, nor can anxiety exist
without freedom.
 Brought on by our alienation from our
dasein; vague compared to fear
Normal Anxiety
 Growth produces normal anxiety,
defined as that which is proportionate
to the threat, does not involve
repression, and can be handled on a
conscious level. It is experienced during
creative moments where people gain
insight and experience growth.
 Conscious; no repression
 Does not require a defense mechanism;
can be managed constructively in a
conscious level
Neurotic Anxiety
 Neurotic anxiety is a reaction that is
disproportionate to the threat and that
leads to repression and defensive
behaviors. It is felt whenever one's
values are transformed into dogma.
Neurotic anxiety blocks growth and
productive action.
 There is repression
GUILT
 Rises when individuals deny their
potentialities, fail to accurately perceive
the needs of fellow humans, or remain
oblivious to their dependence on the
natural world (May, 1958).
 Ontological Guilt
1. Umwelt Guilt – Nature
2. Mitwelt Guilt – Other people
3. Eigenwelt – Self
 Positive – We can use this guilt to
develop a healthy sense of humility, to
improve our relations with others, and
creatively use our potential.
 Negative – if we refuse to accept the
ontological guilt, it becomes neurotic or
morbid. Neurotic guilt can lead to
symptoms such as sexual impotence,
depression, cruelty to others, or inability
to make choices.
INTENTIONALITY
 It underlies will and decision, to place
the problem of determinism and
freedom on a deeper level. The
structure that gives meaning to
experience and allows people to make
decisions about the future is called
intentionality (May, 1969)
 May used the term “intentionality” to
bridge the gap between subject and
object.
 May believes that everyone has an
intention of doing things and this
intention to want something to happen
in the future will happen through our
subjective consciousness.
 What is the purpose of our actions?
CARE, LOVE, AND WILL
Care
 May (1969), suggested that only the Forms of Love
experience and rediscovery of care, the - Giving and receiving love is an
opposite of apathy, will enable us to important for us having a complete
stand against the cynicism that personality
characterizes our day. 1. Sex
 Care can manifest into love. (not same) o Biological needs to derives
 “Care is state in which something does satisfaction of our sexual
matter” (May, 1969) intercourse/release of sexual
Love tension.
 To love means to care, to recognize the o If we prevent this, we will feel guilt
essential humanity of the other person, o Biological
to have an active regard for that 2. Eros
person’s development o A psychological desire that seeks
 Delight in the presence of the other procreation or creation through an
person and an affirmation of that enduring union with a loved one.
person’s value and development as Eros is making love; Sex is
much as one’s own. manipulating organs
 Love used to be seen as the answer to o Psychological (connection)
human problems. Now love itself has 3. Philia
become the problem (1969). o Eros, the salvation of sex, is built on
Will the foundation of philia. And feeling
 The capacity to organize oneself so that of non-sexual friendship between
movement in a certain direction toward individuals
a certain goal may take place. o Successful relationship = friendship
 Will should be present in order to help o No philia > sex and eros will suffer
the people we love (partner of 4. Agape
intentionality -> will does the action of o Selfless form of love and care for
the intention) another. Just as eros depends on
philia, so philia needs agape.
Union of Love and Will o The concern for other’s welfare
 In modern society, May claimed, is beyond any gain that one gets out
suffering from an unhealthy division of of it; supports success of other
love and will (May, 1969). Love has people
become associated with sensual love or
sex whereas will has come to mean a FREEDOM AND DESTINY
dogged determination or will power.  Freedom and destiny give birth to each
 Without will, we cannot make others other. As we challenge our destiny, we
feel our love. gain freedom, and as we achieve
 According to May, the mature person, freedom, we push at the boundaries of
both love and will mean reaching out destiny.
toward another person. Both involve Freedom Defined
care, both necessitate choice, both  May said that “freedom is the
imply action, and both require individual’s capacity to know that he is
responsibility. the determined one”
 Freedom is gained through
confrontation with one’s destiny and
through an understanding that death or
nonbeing is a possibility at any moment.
 After we confront our destiny > question
ourselves “What can I do to make this
happen?” > if you do the things you
thought you can do about it > freedom
 Ability to choose what should we do to
our destiny
 Freedom means “openness, readiness
to grow, flexibility, and changing in
pursuit of greater human values”
 Freedom has the possibility of changing
although we may not know what those
changes could be
Forms of Freedom
Existential Freedom
 Freedom of action or the freedom of
doing
 Freedom to pursue tangible goals
Example: We are free to vote for whoever
we want in this coming election.
Essential Freedom
 Freedom of being or “inner freedom”
 Freedom to think, plan, and hope
 Occurs when existential freedom is
limited
What is Destiny?
 “The design of the universe speaking
through the design of each one of us”
 DEATH – our ultimate destiny; not a
question of if but a question of when
 our destination, our terminus, our goal
 We cannot erase our destiny, “but we
can choose how we shall respond, how
we shall live out our talents which
confront us”
 The vital design of the universe
expressed in each one of us, in its
extreme form.
Philip’s Destiny
 Paralyzed with inaction because he had
refused to accept his destiny
 He saw no connection between his adult
pattern of relating two women and his
childhood strategy of getting along in an
unpredictable and crazy world
 His destiny, however, was not fixed by
those early experiences
 He had the freedom to change his
destiny, but first, he had to recognize his
biological, social, and psychological
limitations
 Philip lacked both the understanding
and courage to confront his destiny up
to the point of seeking therapy; he had
tried to compensate for his destiny to
consciously deny it
 He had been searching for someone
who would make up for his having been
born into an unwelcoming world
consisting of disturbed mother and
schizophrenic sister, a destiny that he
did not choose
 His denial of his destiny left him
resentful and confused; his
unwillingness to face his destiny robbed
him of freedom and kept him tied to his
mother
POWER OF MYTH
 The Cry for Myth (1991)
 they are conscious and unconscious
belief systems that provide explanations
for personal and social problems.
 Imply new potentialities and
interpretations
 May defined myth as “narrative patterns
that give significance to our existence.”
 To know our destiny; pointed out the
biggest problem was our loss of values,
all different values around us lead us to
doubt all values
 May said we have to create our own
values; so we need help offered for us
to use as our will
 Example: The Oedipus
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
 According to May, apathy and
emptiness-not anxiety and guilt- are the
malaise of modern times.
 When people deny their destiny or
abandon their myths, they lose their
purpose for being.
 Many people in modern Western
societies feel alienated from the world
(Umwelt), from the others (Mitwelt),
and from themselves (Eigenwelt).
 May saw psychopathology as lack of
communication
 Symptoms may be temporary, as when
stress produces a headache, or they
may be relatively permanent, as when
early childhood experiences produce
apathy and emptiness.
 Therapists must establish a one-to-one
relationship (Mitwelt) that enables
patients to become more aware of
themselves and to live more fully in
their own world (Eigenwelt).
 This approach may mean challenging
patients to confront their destiny, to
experience despair, anxiety and guilt.
But it also means establishing an I-thou
encounter in which both therapist and
patients are viewed as subjects rather
than objects.
 Goal: expand the client’s consciousness,
confront his/her destiny and become
free to challenge this destiny.

PSYCHOTHERAPY
 Existential Psychoanalysis
 Unlike Freud, Adler, Rogers and other
clinically oriented personality theorists,
May did not establish a school of
psychotherapy with avid followers and
identifiable techniques.
 Rejected the idea that psychotherapy
should reduce anxiety and ease feelings
of guilt.
 Psychotherapy should make people
more human to help them expand their
consciousness so that they will be in a
better position to make choices (M. H.
Hall, 1967).
 Set people free
 Neurotic symptoms are simply ways of
running away from freedom and an
indication that patients’ inner
possibilities are not being used.
 When patients become more free their
neurotic symptoms usually disappear.
 Neurotic Anxiety → Normal Anxiety
 Neurotic Guilt → Normal Guilt