REFLECTIONS

EXISTENTAL PSYCHOTHERAPY AN INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE
K.R.ANANDAN
Lucturer, 
Medical College Hospital, Trichur
All human problems are ultimately related to ones own existence either physical, Psychological or social . A practicing Psychiatrist cannot ignore this basic fact. What he can do is to make some readjustment of individual self with his unique exstential realities during psycho therapeutic sessions.
In human life there is always a lag between being and becoming ie; the gap between what is at present and what has to be in future. In other words he attempts to become an empirical completeness from an incompletes state. Feeling  of incomplete is a constant source of activity. Human sufferings are only natural outcome of his attempts to become complete.
In the attempt of overcoming once own deficiencies, he is alone. Others also exists in this world along with him, but he is alone in his dealings with his own world. The type of intentions, decisions etc, are his alone. He is independent of others to act at his own will. In this way freedom is there, but it imposes all responsibility of his fate to himself. So the freedom is not escaping from anything. His undertaking the responsibility of his own existence .
Just like Existence, Time is again an independent entity. It has got only one track-an ongoing continuum from past through present to future. Past, Present and Future are man made and is relative. What he experiences is only the present moments, in which he acts. When it has gone it is called as past and Future is what he expects to become as present. Existence has got meaning in the present context only.
As the individual existence is so much time bound what he has to do is to channelise his potential to maintain and actualise himself at each and every moment. For this he has to realise himself, knowing his potential inadequacies. (This can be made easy by a Psychiatrist). He has to accept himself in whatever state he is.  He can readly accept in his plus points,  but not his minus points. For this he has to be humble enough to accept the realities - realities about himself and his surroundings. In the process of life, so many things are bound to happen but it is upto the individual, when to react or not to react. Everything need not be met with or to be reacted with. He can sort out what is important and what is not. If this is possible, life is more smooth and we can say he is in a state of psychodynamic equilibrium. He is not concerned with whatever unrelated to him or unreachable and he will be able to undertake those which he can act. He is not much concerned with final outcome also, as he is accepting the other factors which are influencing it.