Introduction To The Second Edition
PRACTISING EXISTENTIAL THERAPY: THEORY
Existential Therapy: Three Key Principles
Existence Themes And Concerns
Worlding And The Worldview
Existential Phenomenological Critiques of Therapy
Existential Therapy: An Overview
PRACTISING EXISTENTIAL THERAPY: A STRUCTURAL MODEL
A Structural Model For Practising Existential Therapy: An
Introduction
Phase One: Co-Creating The Therapy-World
Phase Two: Co-Habiting The Therapy-World
Phase Three: Closing Down The Therapy-World
Addenda: Existential Therapy With Couples; Existential Therapy With
Groups; Time-Limited Existential therapy; Existential
Supervision
Conclusion
Professor Ernesto Spinelli has gained an international reputation as one of the leading contemporary trainers and theorists of existential analysis as applied to psychology and psychotherapy and, more recently, the related arenas of coaching and conflict mediation. He is a UKCP registered existential psychotherapist, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) as well as an accredited executive coach and coaching supervisor. In 1999, Ernesto was awarded a Personal Chair as Professor of psychotherapy, counselling and counselling psychology. Ernesto is Director of ES Associates, an organisation dedicated to the advancement of psychotherapy, coaching, and supervision through specialist seminars and training programmes. Professor Ernesto Spinelli has gained an international reputation as one of the leading contemporary trainers and theorists of existential analysis as applied to psychology and psychotherapy and, more recently, the related arenas of coaching and conflict mediation. He is a UKCP registered existential psychotherapist, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) as well as an accredited executive coach and coaching supervisor. In 1999, Ernesto was awarded a Personal Chair as Professor of psychotherapy, counselling and counselling psychology. Ernesto is Director of ES Associates, an organisation dedicated to the advancement of psychotherapy, coaching, and supervision through specialist seminars and training programmes.
In a survey of over 1,000 existential therapists worldwide,
Practising Existential Psychotherapy was identified as the most
influential contemporary text on existential therapeutic practice.
In this second edition, Spinelli has deepened and extended his
analysis, providing a comprehensive, detailed, and eminently
practical guide to existential therapeutic work. This book is now
the core text for training and practice in existential counselling
and psychotherapy.
*Mick Cooper*
Ernesto Spinelli′s book provides a clear and coherent proposal
about what constitutes existential psychotherapy and how it might
be applied. Both experienced existential therapists and those in
training will find it to be extremely helpful in clarifying the
existential-phenomenological approach without having to renounce
their personal ways of working. Thanks to its clear and accessible
language, this text is also recommended to clients and therapists
from other orientations who are interested in developing their
understanding of existential therapy. Reading it was not only
thrilling and clarifying for me; it also motivated me to continue
to develop my own understanding of existential practice.
*Dr Yaqui Andrés Martínez*
In this second edition of Practicing Existential Therapy, Spinelli
offers us not a revision, but a significantly updated and
re-written manuscript. In it Spinelli achieves what many
existential therapists had thought impossible - A manual that does
not manualize. In these pages the reader is presented with a
rigorous and practical alternative to the superficial ‘toolkits’
littering the field of psychotherapy. This book is about much more
than how to practice existential therapy; it’s about how to be an
existentialist. The text is grounded in concrete examples from
therapy and stimulating exercises that invite the reader to
experience the lived impact of this approach, preventing it from
being reduced to arid conceptualization.
*Greg Madison, PhD*
This most recent edition of Ernesto Spinelli’s Practising
Existential Therapy solidifies him as the inspiring godfather to
those of us who practice in existential phenomenological
ways. His writing discloses his gifted way of addressing
seemingly insurmountable abstractions in clear and practical ways
without losing an ounce of its transformative power. This is
the definitive text to assign in any class exploring existential
therapy. Each chapter gracefully weaves theory, concrete
situations, and suggestions for experiential engagement with
central ideas, thus providing us with a quilted heirloom for years
to come. Although focused on therapeutic process, Spinelli’s
beautiful writing style makes the text’s wisdom accessible to
anyone walking with those who entrust their care to us as we all
continue to face both critical and everyday existential events in
our daily lives.
*Dr Todd DuBose*
Ernesto Spinelli’s new textbook of existential therapy marks a
further step in the clarification of just what it is that makes
those of us who start out from a phenomenological perspective in
attempting to understand what is therapeutic in therapeutic
encounters so utterly different from those who represent one of the
several hundred other named modalities of psychotherapy. The author
has abandoned the term ′psychotherapy′ in naming what he does. The
change of title from the author’s 2007 text, of which this is the
second edition, signals a fundamental clarification. This is really
a very different book to its predecessor. In it and in the author’s
other work, Spinelli continues to be the best guide for young men
and women who, like those of us who have been at it for decades,
ponder the essence of the therapeutic stance even while daring to
take it with fellow human beings who reach out to us.
*Dr Miles Groth*
Spinelli adds to the existential tradition a rich conceptual
dimension, coupled with clear and compelling therapeutic practices,
and the wisdom of experience. This is a truly impressive and
valuable work.
*Kenneth J. Gergen*
I have been waiting for a book like this and here it is! It is not
exaggerating to esteem this book a classic of existential therapy.
It is clinically based, philosophically grounded, conceptually
definitional, methodologically structural, theoretically innovative
and culturally reflective.
*Dr Xuefu Wang*
Ernesto Spinelli′s book, Practising Existential Psychotherapy:
The Relational World, is a classic in the field. This long-awaited
revised edition, entitled Practising Existential
Therapy (rather than psycho-therapy), clarifies the
differences between existential and other approaches. It also
provides schematic overviews that aid the reader in navigating the
conceptual framework of the book. Spinelli’s unique voice, inviting
dialogue with his readers, emerges even more clearly in the new
book. For me this has always been the most compelling aspect of his
writing: I find myself deeply involved in conversation with him in
my head about the various topics he introduces. His writing is
direct and personal as well as knowledgeable and intellectually
challenging. Case examples beautifully illustrate his points. His
willingness to discuss exactly how he practises existential therapy
allows readers to readily understand how theory can be converted
into practice. Unlike many writers on existential therapy, Spinelli
is not content to write only about the various existential "themes"
- freedom, meaning, death, aloneness, etc. These, as he rightly
points out, are actually common themes and life issues for any
therapy. What is different about existential therapy is the way
they are approached. Spinelli introduces three organising
principles derived from existential phenomenology: relatedness,
uncertainty, and existential anxiety. The radical nature of
existential therapy, the thing that distinguishes it from other
approaches, arises from working according to these principles and
their implications. Spinelli′s three-phase "Structural Model,"
delineating specific ways to work at the beginning, middle, and end
of therapy, is one practical way of implementing these principles.
It is an excellent approach that has had great influence in the
world of existential therapy, especially in Britain. There are
others, as he acknowledges, and his openness to dialogue on these
matters remains a major strength of the book. I wish that everyone,
not just existential therapists, would read this book. It clarifies
the questions all therapists should be asking about what it means
to do therapy and how we might approach our clients with a
combination of humility and openness to the emergence of new
possibilities in the client′s uniquely personal experiential world.
Spinelli′s book is a breath of fresh air in a contemporary therapy
world where efficiency and technique are often elevated over
wisdom.
*Betty Cannon, Ph.D*
This is a serious and responsible text, which would be a very
useful addition to any course or scheme of study... It is a real
and important addition to the existential literature.
*John Rowan*
The many practical exercises make it an ideal handbook, and brief
references to work from other notable figures past and present,
alongside Spinelli′s own explanation of his understanding and
practice, make it ideal for reference. It may also be useful for
supervisors and practitioners of any approach as it contains
prompts for consideration of many elements of practice, such as
stages of therapy; considerations of self, other and world
concepts; and endings, among others. It also includes addenda on
existential therapeutic work with couples, groups and in
time-limited set-ups.
*Katharine Cossham, BACP Counsellor and Psychotherapist*
The great strength of this text is the very clear way that Spinelli
outlines and explains his approach to therapeutic practice, with
numerous practical exercises included to help develop skills and
understanding.
*Prof Darren Langdridge, The Open University*
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