(10/12/05) While reading material to prepare for my group therapy project
(presenting the general theory and then running an existential therapy group
with part of the class), I realized how many different ways to move about
in our personal growth are there.

Existential therapy has fascinated me for a long time. A dynamic approach
(meaning, in agreement with the position that deep in our personality structures,
conscious as well as unconscious forces are in conflict with one another),
it centers on issues such as death and non-being, authenticity,
awareness of one's situation, freedom and responsibility,
and "will to meaning". Existential anxiety is stirred
when we sacrifice the predictability of a safe, but often meaningless life,
to the realization that we have choices, many more than we think;
we need to search for what gives meaning to our life, and, in doing so,
we create ourselves anew, constantly, as pioneers that can never settle down
in what's known, safe, and predictable.

Here is an existential therapy question for you, the same I will ask my group;
you probably heard it many times before, but is good to practice
entertaining these thoughts occasionally, it may help giving you insight
in your life situation: "If you knew you had 24 hrs left to live,
what would you do with your time?"

Have fun...

• Freedom: