In the book Man’s Search for Freedom, Viktor Frankl (a neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and Shoah [holocaust] survivor) offers a blueprint for a new approach to therapy called logotherapy. Logotherapy emerged as an especially useful modality for those of us who are interested in trauma work and existential questions (or as Frankl suitably terms it, “existential frustration” (2006, p. 100)). Frankl’s notion that inner tension is a part of life—that it is “an indispensable prerequisite for mental health” (2006, p. 103)—is a refreshing take in contrast to those we see which frame these deeply human struggles as an inconvenience or illness.
“In the mountains of truth you will never climb in vain: either you will get up higher today or you will exercise your strength so as to be able to get up higher tomorrow”. – Friedrich Nietzsche, in Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Frankl’s argument that the “search for meaning is the primary motivation in […] life” (Frankl, 2006, p. 99) is a compelling counternarrative to the popular ideas which focus exclusively on thought-adjustments without consideration of meaning. After all, how can one be content without a sense of meaning and purpose? Or at least, without grappling with meaning and purpose so as to cultivate a sense of freedom?
Existential psychotherapy, developed more fully later by Irvin Yalom, offers clients a chance to think about meaning, purpose, and freedom in a therapeutic environment.
Yalom’s makes good use of Sartre’s infamous quip that “we are condemned to freedom” (as cited in Yalom, 2017, p. 137). In their works, Yalom (2017, p. 137) and Frankl link freedom to responsibility (2006, p. 132) while emphasizing the great importance of highlighting responsibility in the treatment for the successful realization of one’s freedom (Yalom, 2017, p. 139; Frankl, 2006, p. 132). Perhaps through accepting one’s responsibility, and finding meaning in responsibility, one is better able to realize their freedom.
More closely contemplating freedom and meaning in therapy can help bring these questions to the forefront of life, to contribute to a more meaningful existence. Clients mights find themselves often asking: “will doing this add meaning to life?”. “Will this purchase this add meaning to my life?” “Does this behaviour give me a sense of meaning?”
During the season of hyperconsumption (I write this blog post on Black Friday weekend so it is top of mind), a closer examination of meaning and freedom can help you to take responsibility for your freedom and making the most of this freedom.
Ultimately, existential psychotherapy is highly individual. It’s a process through which one comes to their own answers (or perhaps, just more questions). It is also a deeply personal process. It’s not about finding definitive answers but about opening the door to more profound questions.
If you’re interested in existential psychotherapy, consider if reaching out for a free consultation to begin a new therapeutic process might also give you meaning and enhance your sense of freedom. This could be the first step toward a more meaningful and therapeutic journey.
Read more:
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006. (Originally Published in 1959.)
The Gift of Therapy by Irvin Yalom. Harper Collins Press, 2017.
Existential Psychotherapy by Irvin Yalom. Basic Books, 1980.
An excellent source of spiritual wellness is a sense of connectedness with nature.
What is spiritually-integrated psychotherapy / spiritually-informed psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is interested in supporting the client’s mental world. The word “psychotherapy” is rooted in the Greek word psyche meaning “soul”. Despite the deep interconnectedness between spirituality and mental healing traditionally, more recently, spirituality has been estranged from mental health. Clients often report feeling uncomfortable bringing their spirituality into healthcare settings. Regardless, increasingly spirituality is understood as an important dimension of one’s health and wellness (Jaberi et al., 2019; Jones, 2019). This has implications for psychotherapy, in that it is one of the few places where spirituality can be embraced, understood, and integrated in an open, informed way. Still though, clients may not feel comfortable incorporating it without the support of their therapist. This underscores the importance of spiritually-informed psychotherapy.
Spirituality has been understood as an important domain of wellness since time immemorial. Indigenous decolonization and reclamation efforts have underscored the importance of spiritual health, not just to Indigenous peoples, but to human beings (see Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson, 2014 and Erica Neeganagwedgin, 2013).
Jaberi et al. explain that “spiritual health is a dynamic, developmental, conscious, multidimensional, and universal process that activates through spiritual awareness, personal capacity, and potentials for transcendence” (2019, p. 1551). At the same time, Jones (2019) speaks to how spirituality can be either healthy or unhealthy for each person, and part of the clinician’s job is to aid the client in their own understanding of what is healthy and what is not.
Jaberi et al. (2019) explain how spirituality might be appropriately integrated into counselling:
“The critical attributes of spiritual health were integrating existential aspects, nurturing transcendence, wholeness, and moderation, establishing harmonious interconnectedness, purposeful and meaningful life, and faithfulness” (2019, p. 1551).
Through spiritually-integrated psychotherapy, it is possible to bring together all of these components to improve our clients’ spiritual health. For instance, supporting clients in navigating existential questions in relation to their sense of purpose and meaning can be an aspect of the psychotherapy through open discussion and validation.
A rainbow in Montréal.
LGBTQIA+ Spirituality, Spiritual Abuse, and Religious Trauma
As therapists who aim supporting the diverse LGBTQ2IA+ community with a spiritually-integrated approach, the harm posed by many religions and spiritualities needs to be addressed. This harm hasn’t been limited to our LGBTQ2IA+ community alone. As Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson reminds us: “the religions of the colonizers were often agents of oppression, as evidenced by the church administration of […] Residential Schools” (p. 32). For LGBTQ2IA+ folks, they might have found organized religion (and therefore, unfortunately, their primary spiritual practice) to be places of racism, colonialism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and other forms of discrimination. Many of us have been robbed of our comfort with spirituality as a result of this harm. At the same time, I believe the queer and trans community deserves to be able to lean into spirituality as a source of strength and healing, if desired.
For many of us, religion was where we were introduced to some ideas which made us feel excluded, unworthy of “the creator’s” love, unacceptable, etc. Dr. Joe Kort (a pioneer of LGBTQ2IA+ affirming psychotherapy) says that not only are queers made to feel isolated from others through homophobic and transphobic experiences, but they also are made to feel isolated from their higher power and from anyone in a religious or spiritual capacity. This is a major reason why clients are interested in a psychotherapy treatment which integrates spirituality, rather than stigmatizes or sidelines it.
Although there are a growing number of organized religions which accept LGBTQ2IA+ folks, and some that accept sexual minorities but not gender minorities (or vice versa), it is difficult to enter these spaces when you are uncertain if the space will accept you. Even those places of worship which put up pride flags can sometimes feel suspect– are they putting a pride flag up for us? Or are they putting up a pride flag to assuade their guilt, without examining harms?
Regardless of if we chose to practice our spirituality outside of organized religion or not, there are spiritual questions which inevitably accompany life. What is the meaning of life? How can I grieve a dear loved one? Do I have free will? Am I worth loving? (Yes). What do I think about death? These are important questions which ought to have room in the therapy office. LGBTQ2IA+ folks deserve to be able to contemplate and examine these questions in a safe, meaningful place.
I see how for some folks, spirituality is deeply important for their sense of wellness. In our queer community, spirituality can be polarizing, either as a source of deep wellness, or a place of distrust and dysfunction met with profound skepticism. These are both valid understandings. Meaning and purpose does not require spirituality, but it can often be found alongside it. Personally, I like to find myself in the middle of these two places, trying to find the dialectical position of embracing spirituality’s power and awesomeness, while also being deeply critical of how it is often engaged unhealthily.
“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how.’”
-Victor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, founder of Logotherapy, and Holocaust survivor.
Existential psychotherapy
I am deeply moved by the orientation to counselling offered by existential psychotherapy. This movement incorporates the critical tendency of existentialism with the benefits of meaning-making through an openness to spirituality and other forms of meaning-making. Its founder, Irvin Yalom, explains that this work focuses on “death, isolation, meaning of life, and freedom” (the four givens of life) (2009, p. xviii). He defines existential psychotherapy as a psychodynamic therapy which enables a “focus on concerns rooted in existence” (2009, p. xvi). An intentional effort towards developing your own understanding of these “four givens” can focus the work of therapy towards something profoundly meaningful. Beautifully, one’s ‘answer’ to these “four givens” can stem out of any religious or non-religious background: Islam, Judaism, Jainism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhim, Atheism, Agnosticism, or one’s own individual beliefs. Therapy enables you to have a structured space to confront these “four givens” in a safe, supported, and non-judgemental space.
Learn more about spiritually-intergrated and existential psychotherapy
As a spiritually-informed and existential psychotherapist, I always aim to support spiritual and non-spiritual clients in a client-centred way. Your values as a client shape the work more than anything else. I would like to ensure that spirituality can be welcomed into our therapeutic work to the extent you desire, while also ensuring it can be done so in a healthy way. I aim to approach therapy generally in a non-judgemental and anti-oppressive way, and I understand how this is doubly important to emphasize with clients who have experienced oppression (especially for their spiritual practices).
“By keeping death in mind, one passes into a state of gratitude, of appreciation for the countless givens of existence. This is what the stoics meant when they said, ‘contemplate death if you would learn how to live.’” ― Irvin D. Yalom, Existential Psychotherapy
