History, meaning and understanding of biography work in Existential Analysis
Christoph Kolbe
In the beginning, Logotherapy and Existential Analysis had difficulties with an understanding of biography which intended to place the history, its imprints and the more or less (un)resolved experiences of individuals into the focus of counseling and psychotherapeutic accompaniment. This was due to Frankl’s fundamental critique of the psychologism of psychotherapy during his time. Biography was seen as a draft for the future, focusing on the human being who always has the possibility of becoming someone else. Under the impression of the significance of biographic experiences, with their importance for experiencing and ones perception of the world and how values are related to, the understanding of it changes. It draws attention towards the attitudes of the individual, which frequently can only be explained through the processing of biographic experiences. Meanwhile, therapeutic or counseling work on these attitudes, as well as finding an understanding of them, is seen as prerequisite for an authentic way of living. The article will provide an historical overview of the significance and valuation of biographic work in the horizon of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis, as well as its current understanding.
Keywords: biography, personal history, biographical work, temporality
Biographical nodal points and individuation
On the significance of biography and biography work in Analytical psychology
Ralf T. Vogel
Analytical psychology, occasionally also referred to as “complex psychology” or “Jungian analysis”, is the depth-psychological theory and practice which had been introduced by C.G. Jung (1875-1961) and has since been continually developed within and outside academic institutions. It incorporates shares of social-psychology, cultural science, religious studies as well as psychotherapy, and developed an independent clinical psychology and psychotherapeutic practice.
Keywords: biography work, Analytical psychology, complexes, individuation, C.G. Jung
The body as sedimented biography – condensations of life
On the relationship between implicit, corporeal knowledge and explicit, autobiographical memory
Markus Angermayr
This paper will focus on continual body-corporeal micro-processes and point out the significance of body-corporeity for memory.
In each present moment, the whole of life is embodied in a way which corresponds to the rhythm, attitude and expression of the situation that very moment. In the moment of presence, of perception, acceptance and approval, the appropriation of what is happening within me takes place. It is a remembering that requires inner awareness. The connection to how I have become is simultaneously revealed – implicitly – in vivid present remembering. Pre-reflective and yet unconscious “autonomous” body phenomena are given space to reveal themselves and open up corporeally perceived biographical aspects to us. Especially interesting are phenomena that have not shown themselves in our stream of remembering or even contradict our autobiographical memory. Without body-corporeal sedimentation, as is stored in implicit corporeal memory, we cannot make sense of the course of life.
Keywords: body-corporeal sedimentation, biography, presence, implicit knowledge, impression, „felt-sense”
When biography hinders taking a personal position
Karin Matuszak-Luss
This article outlines the ethiopathogenesis of a hindered or blocked ability to take a personal position. Psychotherapeutic interventions will be discussed, which can be helpful to enable people to make a personal statement. A case report illustrates the theoretical reflections in close proximity to practice.
Keywords: taking a personal position, biography, existential-analytical treatment
When the person seems to disappear
Shaping life in dementia
Geertje Bolle
Through linking accompaniments from practice, phenomenological approach and theoretical ground, this article illuminates the reference to and working with biography in the context of existential accompaniment of people with dementia. The thesis: To live existentially, to develop and to shape one’s own life is also possible in and with dementia.
The following three aspects will be explored in this article: Time grid disturbance versus resonance events? Memory loss versus continuity of life history present in corporeal memory? Patterned behavior versus personal shaping? The handling of time, memory, and the freedom of the person, as well as the question to what extent we encounter topics in dementia that ultimately affect us all in our existential being will thereby be an issue.
Keywords: dementia, person, corporeal memory
Development – Maturation – Ageing in counseling and therapy
The personal contribution to shaping life
Alfried Längle
In our lives we are usually preoccupied with our daily tasks, problems and joys. They attract so much attention that we have little or no focus on the bigger picture of our existence. We rarely look at the shape and cast of our biography, what we have become and the life that lies ahead of us. We are too preoccupied with the daily, perhaps the yearly. This connection with the immediate can lead to a fragmentation, fraying, compartmentalisation or particularisation of life, in which the holistic character of this one, my own life, fades.
The aim here is to try to integrate this broad perspective of life better into everyday life, the place where the biography originates, and to train the eye for it in counselling and psychotherapy, in order to connect the current work with the arc of life and the maturation of the personality. Development, maturation and ageing take place constantly, but they also mark stages in life. What do they consist of, what are their structures? And how do their processes work? Special attention is given to practical guidance in counselling and psychotherapy, so that we can not only accompany our patients and clients in their concerns and needs, but also see and support them more holistically in their biographical development.
Keywords: biography, development, becoming, maturation, aging
The personal burden of a multicultural socialization
Cristina Bacher-Rieger
Many people are existentially confronted with the collision of different cultures while creating their life story. Especially during times of socialization, difficulties due to integration, rejection due to being different or conflicts with the parents as a result can cause psychological stress. Where is security and support to be found in these different worlds? Where is one’s own personal space given? How do we integrate these conflicting values? Following a case study, I will illustrate the structural impairments and the way along Personal Existential Analysis towards one’s own emotional and spiritual biographic answer.
Keywords: socialization, integration, being different, support, conflicting values
Having the right to be – The right to be oneself
Biographical work in the practice of inpatient psychotherapy of the regional psycho-neurologic clinic in Lwiw, Ukraine
Viktoriya Zabor
Periods in life that leave lasting impressions and influence current situations are particularly important in a person´s biography. The article is based on observations in inpatient psychotherapy and presents the special features of biographical work within Existential Analysis with patients whose current life appears to be restricted or blocked by previous traumatic experiences. Rediscovering “the right to be” and “the right to be oneself” enables patients to regain faith in themselves. The psychotherapeutic process can lead to a reduction in the negative influences of biographical events.
Keywords: Existential Analysis, Fundamental Motivation, Personal Existential Analysis, (PEA), biographical work, Biographical Existential Analysis (BEA)
Journey towards understanding
Reflections on the indication of biographical work in Existential Analysis
Renate Bukovski talks with Lilo Tutsch
In the interview, the interlocutors explore the indication for biographical work in Existential Analysis from the perspective of many years of work as psychotherapists. They seek answers to the questions of when, how and for whom biographical work is indicated in psychotherapy. They consider criteria for the necessity of biographical work as an orientation for psychotherapists. In the context of the previous considerations, the discussion then centers on the question of whether different approaches are required. This is exemplified methodically for patients with insufficient or at times severely impaired ego strength, or with weak distancing and dialogue skills, using an example as well as a description of an efficient and ego-sparing approach.
Key words: indication for biographical work, ego strength, structural level, procedures of biographical work
On the courage to take up the thread of one’s own life again
Scenes from body-oriented trauma therapy
Stephanie Häfele-Hausmann
People whose biographic thread has been severed by traumatic experiences develop coping mechanisms in order to continue. One of these coping mechanisms is dissociation. Dissociation again and again protects from an experiencing which is felt as too much. The experience of being cut off, of solely functioning and of insufficient possibilities of self-regulation exhausts in the long run and often becomes almost unendurable. On the basis of scenes from body-oriented trauma therapy, the article attempt to show how hold is gained, dissociation is reduced and the participation in one’s own life becomes increasingly possible again through corporeally establishing contact to one’s self and by including the body in the “workshop trauma therapy”.
Keywords: dissociation, trauma therapy, body-oriented psychotherapy, body-corporeity
Mastering the transition from kindergarten to school
Impetus for parents from Existential Pedagogy
Nadine John
Many parents find themselves in a field of tension at the start of school: On the one hand, they have a biographically influenced negative attitude towards school, on the other hand, they have the desire to support their child properly during the transition from kindergarten to school, so that they can start school with self-confidence, curiosity and optimism. This article first describes the challenges faced by the pupil’s parents and then explains how Existential Pedagogy can help parents to deal with these challenges and how to support their children confidently.
Keywords: transition to school, school start, parent-child relationship, Existential Pedagogy, fundamental motivations, biography, personal conversational guidance
On the pulse of lifetime
Rhythms and regularities in biography – Anthroposophical biography work in the process of Existential Analysis
Erika Salzmann
Anthroposophical biography work is based on Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual view of the human being. It focuses on strengthening the self and becoming aware of the spiritual dimension of life’s journey by working on one’s biography. The division into larger and smaller sections makes it easier to proceed in a structured way, and focusing on specific points in the biography – such as the so-called “lunar nodes” – can lead to the recognition of facets of one’s being that were previously unconscious. Biography work can be used in existential analytical psychotherapy or counseling or in a biography group in which participants give each other feedback and support each other in finding the essentials in their biography.
KEYWORDS: biography work, anthroposophy, spiritual view of human being, self-awareness, development curves, seven steps
Experiences from the prenatal period and their anthropological significance
Astrid Görtz
In the following article, I compare the observations from prenatal research with my own clinical experiences with patients as well as selected case studies from literature. In doing so, the long-term significance of the earliest experiences from the womb can be demonstrated. Finally, I point out – especially in the context of patients’ prenatal experiences – the need for a consistent phenomenological stance in existential analytical psychotherapy. This also requires abandoning any reductionism when considering a person’s biography.
Keywords: prenatal research, biography, phenomenological attitude, anthropology
Ruckus in one’s being
Becoming a mother as an existential challenge
Amila Schwarzacher-Softić
Becoming a mother is an existential, profound experience. It brings change, uncertainty, and fragility of being, which virtually asks for Existential Analysis – on the one hand as a phenomenological description of this change, on the other hand as a reference for psychotherapeutic practice. The concept of transition refers to the profound process of moving from being a woman into an expanded being as a mother. The image of the turning point between day and night describes this transition from a seemingly calm existence to the bursting forth of life in the dawning day, which can be associated with unrest, turmoil and even ruckus. Social influences, conservative and neoliberal concerns and expectations can be significant factors in the emergence of unrest and even ruckus, especially if the mother-to-be is fragile and not firm in her personal attitude and determination as to how she wants to shape her motherhood. A case study is outlined in which the social influence onto the transition and the resulting problematic experiencing of motherhood becomes apparent. The existential analytical psychotherapeutic approach can open a way for the mother to find her personal authentic path to motherhood.
Keywords: motherhood, identity, person, transition, existence, society
Effects of Existential Pedagogy
An overview of Existential Pedagogy and results of a pilot study with caregivers of children in out-of-home care
Eva Maria Waibel & Silvia Exenberger & Heidi Siller
Existential Pedagogy is an approach which focuses on the child as person and in doing so not only has an effect on the child but also on the caregiver (e.g. the pedagogues). This paper will focus on the way existential pedagogy takes an effect on the caregiver. In the process, we build upon a broad review of literature on Existential Pedagogy and, based on this, upon a pilot study of Existential Pedagogy with caregivers. In a survey before and after a training, modifications were to be found in the reflection and handling of anger. Similar results also show in other studies. Existential Pedagogy is seen as an attitude and not primarily as methodical pedagogy.
Keywords: Existential Pedagogy, out-of-home care, reflection, caregivers, pedagogues