Exploring Existential Meaning PDF Download

Author: Gary T. Reker
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 076190994X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
With this work, the editors present a forum for an array of international viewpoints and recent research that address the notion of optimal human growth.

Author: Ronald S. Valle
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461569893
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
When I began to study psychology a half century ago, it was defined as "the study of behavior and experience." By the time I completed my doctorate, shortly after the end of World War II, the last two words were fading rapidly. In one of my first graduate classes, a course in statistics, the professor announced on the first day, "Whatever exists, exists in some number." We dutifully wrote that into our notes and did not pause to recognize that thereby all that makes life meaningful was being consigned to oblivion. This bland restructuring-perhaps more accurately, destruction-of the world was typical of its time, 1940. The influence of a narrow scientistic attitude was already spreading throughout the learned disciplines. In the next two decades it would invade and tyrannize the "social sciences," education, and even philosophy. To be sure, quantification is a powerful tool, selectively employed, but too often it has been made into an executioner's axe to deny actuality to all that does not yield to its procrustean demands.

Author: Joshua W. Seachris
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470658789
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
Much more than just an anthology, this survey of humanity's search for the meaning of life includes the latest contributions to the debate, a judicious selection of key canonical essays, and insightful commentary by internationally respected philosophers. Cutting-edge viewpoint features the most recent contributions to the debate Extensive general introduction offers unprecedented context Leading contemporary philosophers provide insightful introductions to each section

Author: Jeff Greenberg
Publisher: Guilford Press
ISBN: 9781593850401
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description
Social and personality psychologists traditionally have focused their attention on the most basic building blocks of human thought and behavior, while existential psychologists pursued broader, more abstract questions regarding the nature of existence and the meaning of life. This volume bridges this longstanding divide by demonstrating how rigorous experimental methods can be applied to understanding key existential concerns, including death, uncertainty, identity, meaning, morality, isolation, determinism, and freedom. Bringing together leading scholars and investigators, the Handbook presents the influential theories and research findings that collectively are helping to define the emerging field of experimental existential psychology.

Author: Emily Esfahani Smith
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 055344655X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
In a culture obsessed with happiness, this wise, stirring book points the way toward a richer, more satisfying life. Too many of us believe that the search for meaning is an esoteric pursuit—that you have to travel to a distant monastery or page through dusty volumes to discover life’s secrets. The truth is, there are untapped sources of meaning all around us—right here, right now. To explore how we can craft lives of meaning, Emily Esfahani Smith synthesizes a kaleidoscopic array of sources—from psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and neuroscientists to figures in literature and history such as George Eliot, Viktor Frankl, Aristotle, and the Buddha. Drawing on this research, Smith shows us how cultivating connections to others, identifying and working toward a purpose, telling stories about our place in the world, and seeking out mystery can immeasurably deepen our lives. To bring what she calls the four pillars of meaning to life, Smith visits a tight-knit fishing village in the Chesapeake Bay, stargazes in West Texas, attends a dinner where young people gather to share their experiences of profound loss, and more. She also introduces us to compelling seekers of meaning—from the drug kingpin who finds his purpose in helping people get fit to the artist who draws on her Hindu upbringing to create arresting photographs. And she explores how we might begin to build a culture that leaves space for introspection and awe, cultivates a sense of community, and imbues our lives with meaning. Inspiring and story-driven, The Power of Meaning will strike a profound chord in anyone seeking a life that matters.

Author: Yannick Jacob
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429778678
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
In An Introduction to Existential Coaching Yannick Jacob provides an accessible and practical overview of existential thought and its value for coaches and clients. Jacob begins with an introduction to coaching as a powerful tool for change, growth, understanding and transformation before exploring existential philosophy and how it may be integrated into coaching practice. The book goes on to examine key themes in existentialism and how they show up in the coaching space, including practical models as well as their application to organisations and leadership. Jacob concludes by evaluating ethical dimensions of working existentially and offers guidance on how to establish an existential coaching practice, including how to gain clients and build relationships with strategic partners. With reflective questions, exercises, interventions and activities throughout, An Introduction to Existential Coaching will be invaluable for anyone wanting to live and work at greater depth or to succeed as an existential coach. Accessibly written and with a wide selection of references and resources, An Introduction to Existential Coaching is a vital guide for coaches in training as well as an inspiring addition to the repertoir of experienced practitioners. It serves academics and students to understand existential philosophy and allows professionals with coaching responsibilities to access more meaningful conversations.

Author: Alexander Batthyany
Publisher: Springer Science & Business
ISBN: 149390308X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
This book is a first attempt to combine insights from the two perspectives with regard to the question of meaning by examining a collection of theoretical and empirical works. This volume therefore is destined to become an important addition to psychological literature: both from the viewpoint of the history of ideas (again this would be one of the first times that positive and existentialist psychologies meet) and from the viewpoint of theoretical and empirical research into the meaning concept in psychology.

Author: Joshua A. Hicks
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400765274
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
This book offers an in-depth exploration of the burgeoning field of meaning in life in the psychological sciences, covering conceptual and methodological issues, core psychological mechanisms, environmental, cognitive and personality variables and more.

Author: Matthew Ratcliffe
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191548529
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Feelings of Being is the first ever account of the nature, role and variety of 'existential feelings' in psychiatric illness and in everyday life. There is a great deal of current philosophical and scientific interest in emotional feelings. However, many of the feelings that people struggle to express in their everyday lives do not appear on standard lists of emotions. For example, there are feelings of unreality, surreality, unfamiliarity, estrangement, heightened existence, isolation, emptiness, belonging, significance, insignificance, and the list goes on. Ratcliffe refers to such feelings as 'existential' because they comprise a changeable sense of being part of a world In this book, Ratcliffe argues that existential feelings form a distinctive group by virtue of three characteristics: they are bodily feelings, they constitute ways of relating to the world as a whole, and they are responsible for our sense of reality. He explains how something can be a bodily feeling and, at the same time, a sense of reality and belonging. He then explores the role of altered feeling in psychiatric illness, showing how an account of existential feeling can help us to understand experiential changes that occur in a range of conditions, including depression, circumscribed delusions, depersonalisation and schizophrenia. The book also addresses the contribution made by existential feelings to religious experience and to philosophical thought.

Author: Mick Cooper
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761973218
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
`One can only applaud the bravery of an author who gently send up Kierkegaard's wilful obscurantism and cleans out the acrid smoke of Gauloises from the room. With welcome clarity and sanity, Mick Cooper efficiently lays out the concepts, techniques and directions adopted by several key figures in the broad field of existentially informed psychotherapy. In an excellent first chapter, Mick Cooper pointed out my `ontic' from my `ontological'; and I could see, behind the long-words-with-dashes, the true resonance of these ideas with real human and therapeutic issues, dilemmas and goals' - Clinical Psychology `This book proves to be a real treasure chest: what you always wanted to know about existential psychotherapy but failed to find anywhere else in such a comprehensive, clear and concise manner. In that sense, this publication provides a missing link. One merit of the book is its systematic structure. As extensive, and in part as heterogeneous as existential philosophy and therapy also maybe, Mick Cooper had nevertheless been able to build convincing clusters with, on the one hand, an enormous understanding of details and, on the other, a far-sightedness that, like a map, provides orientation in the diversity of existential therapy. I really appreciate this publication and can recommend it very strongly' - Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapies `Existential Therapies will I suspect, suddenly make "existentialism" come alive. The author, Mick Cooper loves his subject, it fascinates and enthrals him, and we get to experience some of that, even though the book is "academic". The connections and overlaps with person-centred psychology are there for us to be, but so are the differences' - Person-Centred Practice `As an overview of a number of different existential therapies the book is extremely welcome and manages in a relatively short space to cover a wide arena. Overall I rate the book highly. To pull together a large and somewhat disparate literature, then make sense of it and finally retains the reader's interest, is difficult' - Existential Analysis `Mick Cooper has done an impressive job in writing a much needed, current and user friendly survey of the field of existential therapies. If I were to teach this course, I would use this book. I applaud Mick Cooper for having admirably achieved the aim he set out to achieve. All this makes Mick Cooper's book a must-read for anyone wishing to explore the topic of existential therapy' - Society for Laingian Studies Website `What makes this book unique is that all the different strands of Existential philosophy are always clearly linked to practice' - Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal `This is a very fresh book, not treading well-worn paths and genuinely informing us about a small but important field. This is really an indispensable book for anyone who wants to understand existentialist approaches to therapy' - Self and Society `This publication marks a milestone providing an excellent, clear and critical overview of the contrasting forms of the approach as it is currently practised' - Emmy van Deurzen, New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling, Schiller University, London `This is a book of superb thoroughness and scholarship - an unprecedented guide to existential therapy's chief positions and controversies' - Kirk J Schneider, President of the Existential-Humanistic Institute, USA `Combines scholarship with a writing style that makes difficult concepts accessible. This book should be required reading on any course where the existential tradition plays a part, and that includes person-centred courses and all sympathetic to the idea that psychotherapy is, in essence, a human encounter where warmth, understanding and a deep respect for the individual are key values' - Tony Merry, University of East London What does it mean to practice in an existential way? What are the different existential approaches? What are their strengths and limitations? Existential Therapies addresses these key questions, and more, by providing students and practitioners with an invaluable introduction to the diverse and multifaceted world of existential therapeutic practices. Focusing on practical, face-to-face work with clients, the book: · introduces readers to six key existential therapies · discusses key figures and their contributions, including Irvin Yalom, Emmy van Deurzen, Ernesto Spinelli, Viktor Frankl and R D Laing · compares and contrasts the various approaches, highlighting areas of commonality and difference · outlines key debates within the existential therapy field · provides detailed suggestions for further reading Existential Therapies offers students and practitioners of all orientations much that they can incorporate into their own therapeutic work, and each approach is vividly brought to life through therapist-client dialogues and case studies. Written in an accessible, warm, and engaging manner, Existential Therapies is an essential introduction to this rich, vibrant and stimulating field.