THERAPIST: [I can't make her decisions for her.] I can't tell you which way to go. I do know that you've been avoiding a decision. I believe you're going to take charge of your life but, until then, we may both feel impatient....
What do you want to do? [She has to be pushed to make up her mind. She's ready now to decide but is understandably scared.]
CLIENT: I want to stop worrying, stop feeling so anxious and upset.
THERAPIST: [She'd like me to mother her.] Look, Diane, you've been coming to see me for three months now. You know what I think about feeling upset: if you're upset, there's something bothering you that you need to pay attention to. We both know you dislike your job and that you stay on mainly because you're afraid of a change. We can talk a long time about your unhappiness at work and about your fear of change, but eventually it will be time to stop talking and to try some alternatives. Do you think you're ready? I think you are.
CLIENT: (Sighs.) I guess you're right. I seem to be dragging my feet. If I want a satisfying job, I'm just going to have to try something else. Can we talk about some of my alternatives, then, and I'll try to stop complaining!
THERAPIST: [Now she's starting to face up to the challenge.]
APPLICATIONS OF EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY
These are some of the difficulties existential psychotherapy is designed to treat:
* feelings of real estrangement or alienation from others—from your immediate family and friends or from neighbors or colleagues at work
* a sense of acute loneliness, of being cut off from humanity and from normal everyday activities and interactions
* an awareness that your life has become an empty pattern of habit, that your activities or work no longer feel meaningful or valuable