Some thoughts on the existential lens in group psychotherapy

Existential psychotherapy provides a useful perspective, or lens through which to view the practice of group psychotherapy. The field encompasses a variety of theoretical and practical points of view, many not usually thought of as existential. Some relate to the therapist, some to the enterprise of psychotherapy, and some to conceptions of psychic or external reality. This paper identifies several of these vertices, emphasizing especially (1) the importance of relationship in psychotherapy, (2) the problem of meaning (3) addressing existential concerns, especially the centrality of death as a problem in living, and (4) the task of the therapist. Attention is paid to the historical development of these ideas. The work of Martin Buber, Otto Rank, Wilfred Bion, and Viktor Frankl is especially emphasized, although proto-existential concepts from other waters are also noted. The heart of the paper deals with the application of these vertices to group psychotherapy. Extensive attention will be given to the differing viewpoints of Hugh Mullan and Irvin Yalom. Practical applications in group psychotherapy, including clinical vignettes, are offered.This paper was originally delivered, in somewhat different form, at the National Group Psychotherapy Institute of the Washington School of Psychiatry on April 23, 1995. It was dedicated to Hugh Mullan, who had been one of my teachers at the school two decades earlier.