Mullan H
Georgetown University.
Int J Group Psychother. 1992 Oct;42(4):453-68. doi: 10.1080/00207284.1992.11490718.
Existential philosophical thought insists that human behavior is indeterminate and subject only to the individual's will. It is, therefore, skeptical of all dynamic psychologies based as they are on Freudian determinism. Group therapists imbued with this philosophy stop short of its extreme. Their existential position, however, does greatly modify treatment, and yet they preserve both the form and goals of therapy. They place properly selected and prepared patients in a group where their individuality and authenticity are highly valued. Finding most technical procedures irrelevant, the therapists themselves, that is, their evolving personalities are central. The key to patient change is the spontaneous meeting of members and the therapist which the therapist orchestrates. Instead of the usual interpretation, members are encouraged to confront the paradoxes in their lives, their humanness, and especially their finitude. Patients are to be brought up to the threshold of their self-knowledge so they can choose. Choice, therefore, along with action coupled with responsibility are frequent themes. Unless the individual is incompetent, decisions made for him or her by the therapist or by group consensus are thought to be nontherapeutic.
存在主义哲学思想坚持认为，人类行为是不确定的，仅受个人意志支配。因此，它对所有基于弗洛伊德决定论的动态心理学持怀疑态度。深受这种哲学影响的团体治疗师并未走向其极端。然而，他们的存在主义立场确实极大地改变了治疗方式，但他们同时保留了治疗的形式和目标。他们将经过适当挑选和准备的患者置于一个高度重视其个性和本真的团体中。治疗师认为大多数技术程序无关紧要，关键在于他们自身，即他们不断发展的个性。患者改变的关键在于治疗师精心安排的成员与治疗师之间的自然相遇。成员们不是像往常那样接受解释，而是被鼓励直面生活中的矛盾、自身的人性，尤其是自身的有限性。要引导患者达到自我认知的临界点，以便他们能够做出选择。因此，选择以及与行动相伴的责任是常见的主题。除非个体无行为能力，否则治疗师或团体共识为其做出的决定被认为是非治疗性的。
