The Existentialism of Rollo May

Abstract

This article reviews the life and work of Rollo May and his influence on the author’s development of applying existential therapy to treating traumatic stress. An examination of May’s worldview, theory, and therapeutic philosophy is presented. Considerable importance is placed on May’s theoretical foundations as they apply to treating combat veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The data presented in this article reveal the significance of utilizing existential therapeutic principles within a group format to help facilitate combat veterans’ recovery from the internal damage inflicted by PTSD.

From Neurotic Anxiety, Guilt of an Unlived Life, and Bad Faith into Self-Unfoldment in Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy

“…However, in the field of therapy this concept becomes more of an internal matter. Pitchford (2009) contemplates that guilt can stimulate people to make correct choices to meet and achieve some sense of life-goal or even a meaning after crisis. And he believes that avoiding guilt, instead of compromising with it, 'sickens' the soul of people both bodily and psychologically (445).…”

An Existential–Integrative Treatment of Anxious and Depressed Adolescents

“…The risk clients took in pursuing therapy was to trust and remain open to developing a deeper understanding of themselves, potential warts and all. Therapists supported this risk by allowing clients the freedom to experience their choices and assume responsibility for their actions (Pitchford, 2009).…”

A Wattsian Perspective on Life’s Ultimate Riddle: Paradoxes, Double-Binds, and Their Resolution

“…This includes (though is by no means limited to) Rollo May, Abraham Maslow, Albert Camus, Soren Kierkegaard, Ernest Becker, Viktor Frankl, Erich Fromm, Irvin Yalom, James Bugental, and Kirk Schneider. May, for example, viewed paradox as a fundamental aspect of human nature (Kiser, 2007;Pitchford, 2009;Schneider, 1999), as paradox appears in his work in a number of dialectical forms such as life and death (May, 1999), self as subject and object (May, 1958(May, , 1967(May, /1996, freedom and responsibility (May, 1967(May, /1996, freedom and destiny as well as the broader "paradoxes of freedom" (May, 1981). Moreover, May described the human predicament as one of being "suspended between freedom and limitation," which can be responded to via dread or confrontation and integration of the paradoxical polarities-where the former can lead to dysfunction and the latter leads to greater freedom (Schneider & May, 1995, pp.…”

“…Finally, in addition to the historical prominence of paradox, the theme is also widespread in contemporary humanistic and existential literature. The topic occurs in a wide range of contexts, such as existential-integrative psychotherapy (Schneider, 2008), existential therapy ( van Deurzen, 2015van Deurzen, , 2019, lifespan development (DeRobertis & Bland, 2020), transformation (Hart, 2000(Hart, , 2009, empirical research on health and well-being (Schneider, 1991), posttraumatic growth (Joseph, 2019), dysfunctional extreme states (Humpston, 2018;Schneider, 1990Schneider, , 2015, integral love (Sleeth, 2010(Sleeth, , 2013, responses to paradox (Pitchford, 2009), perceptual extremism and integration of paradox (Schneider, 1986), polarization and depolarization (Schneider, 2013(Schneider, , 2020), Schneider's "paradox principle" (Schneider, 1990(Schneider, , 1991(Schneider, , 2013(Schneider, , 2015, anxiety in existential philosophy (Wulfing, 2008), challenges faced by people in the UK due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Bush, 2020), embodied consciousness (Morley, 2008), as well as the metatraits of stability and plasticity in personality psychology (Kaufman, 2018). Moreover, integrating the existential work of May, Yalom, and Schneider;De Castro (2013) framed psychological disorders as maladaptive orientations to six existential paradoxes.…”