[Anxiety as an existential phenomenon. An existential analytic approach to understanding and therapy of anxieties]

Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol. 1997 Jul;47(7):227-33.
[Article in German]

Abstract

From the existential analytical point of view, anxiety is considered to be a basic theme of existence. The experience of being threatened is most commonly related to the physical and material aspects of life. But on a deeper level anxiety deals with the search for foundational and supporting structures for existence. When one loses the sense of safety of being held and of having shelter in a world that does not offer ultimate securities, one is prone to anxiety. Anxiety can therefore be perceived as a subjective parameter of feeling threatened in the existential structures. This paper gives an outline of an existential analytical approach to the understanding of fear and anxiety, a basic classification of anxieties, and an overview of the following specific methods of an existential treatment search for foundational structures of existence, personal position-taking, dereflexion (Frankl) and paradoxical intention (Frankl).

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety Disorders / psychology*
  • Anxiety Disorders / therapy
  • Existentialism*
  • Humans
  • Internal-External Control
  • Psychoanalytic Theory*
  • Psychoanalytic Therapy