Everyday Mysteries: Existential Dimensions of Psychotherapy [Paperback]

Emmy van Deurzen-Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415087058 | ISBN-13: 978-0415087056 | Publication Date: January 31, 1997 | Edition: First Edition

Everyday Mysteries provides an in-depth introduction to existential psychotherapy. Presenting a philosophical alternative to established forms of psychological treatment, it emphasizes the problems of living and the human dilemmas which are often neglected by practitioners who focus on personal psychopathology.
Emmy van Deurzen defines the philosophical ideas that underpin existential psychotherapy, summarising the contributions made by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre among others. She offers a systematic and practical method of existential psychotherapy, illustrated with detailed case material.
Everyday Mysteries offers a fresh perspective for anyone training in psychotherapy, counselling and psychoanalysis. Those already established in practice will find this a stimulating source of ideas about everyday life and the mysteries of human experience.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A complex and many-layered work...the best part... is the section about Emmy's own practice and recommendations to therapists. This is warm, human, useful and well-considered stuff, which I think would be of interest to any therapist.' - Self and Society --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Emmy van Deurzen created the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling at Regent's College, London, where she was awarded a professorship in 1993.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; First Edition edition (January 31, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415087058
• ISBN-13: 978-0415087056
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong and Simple, September 5, 2004

By 

Charlie Sandover "Sandover" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everyday Mysteries: Existential Dimensions of Psychotherapy (Paperback)

Van Deurzen provides a strong and well-reasoned overview of thinkers who have inspired existential psychotherapy. Helpful and intelligent.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Existential Psychotherapy, July 3, 2007

By 

P. Morrow - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everyday Mysteries: Existential Dimensions of Psychotherapy (Paperback)

This book is a rich compendium of the philosophical underpinnings of existential psychotherapy. The author has invested her career in a branch of psychotherapy that is most relevant to modern man's search for meaning, but which has suffered unfairly for lack of experimental results. She has founded the "London School" at Regent's College of a discipline that has a deep philosophical tradition, much of which has unfortunately been "lost in translation" to psychotherapeutic practice.

She has crystallized into concise chapters the seminal works in pure philosophy by Husserl, Heidegger and Sartre, as well as those of a more psychological bent by Jaspers and Lacan. Her clear understanding and genuine belief in the basic existential situation that must be confronted in abnormal treatment as well as normal life as "everyday mysteries" comes through in her interpretations of otherwise impenetrable originals.

I would suggest this as required reading before diving into more formal treatises and case studies such as Yalom's "Existential Psychotherapy". The bibiliography is also a gold mine for key philosophical references, from which she has picked some of the most memorable and useful passages.

4.0 out of 5 stars Foundations of Existential Psychotherapy, September 15, 2009

By 

Dr. John Laughlin (Glenn Dale, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Everyday Mysteries: Existential Dimensions of Psychotherapy (Paperback)

Everyday Mysteries: Existential Dimensions of Psychotherapy accomplishes several goals of giving one the general theoretical orientation to existential psychotherapy and its influence by the works of phenomenologist and existential philosophers like Kierkegaard, Jaspers, Sarre, Buber and Nietzsche. The author does a good job of relating their ideas to the development of existential psychotherapy and in summarizing the work of well known modern existential therapists like Boss, Binswangert, Yonkin and May. This is a hard book to read if one has no currency in these works and this one volume cannot do that. Still those who stay with the writer may find themselves turning to other easier works (Existence: a new dimension in psychiatry and psychology, May, Rollo, Angel, Ernest, Ellenberger, Henri F.) to broaden their view of their work and clients. All will enjoy authors' advice to therapists about setting up a practice and the detailed case study where Emmy reveals her talent and self examination as the therapist.

Existential therapy addresses the loss of meaning in life --a far different wording of problems than what we see in our offices, which are often couched in the "practical" issues of marriage or work,and inconvenience such as phobias. Existentialism is not well accepted or understood in this country whose roots and main values of capitalism and self reliance are so different from those of European countries in which this philosophy was inspired following rapid social change and world wars. We suffer the same loss of meaning as others in the world but it has not led to a philosophy and therapy except in the works of Rollo May, James Bugenthal and Irvin Yonken. Even these Emmy feels have moved more toward Humanistic oriented psychology.

Emmy van Deursen-Smith is very well qualified to write about this subject having earned a master's degree in Moral and Political Philosophy before studying psychology. She founded the Society for Existential Analysis or SEA(1988) and the International Collaborative for Existential Counselors and Psychotherapists (ICECAP)and created the two of the most important training institutes for the approach at the London School (Regent's College) and The New School of Psychotherapy and Counseling: the latter being a purely existentially-based training institute offering graduate and postgraduate degrees. She helped found the International Journal Existential Analysis.