Therapy Toronto Psychotherapy Definitions

Therapist Match:

Malcolm Welland (Yorkville and Guelph)

Stephen van Beek (the Annex)

Don Edwards (Cabbagetown)

John Neumin (midtown Toronto)

Camilla Burgess (High Park)

Liz Kalman (the Danforth)

Existential

Existential psychotherapy operates on the premise that the givens of existence - death, freedom, responsibility, ultimate aloneness and meaninglessness - are thought to give rise to the anxiety inherent in human existence and the longing to be connected to others.

In psychodynamic therapies inner conflict is seen as arising from experience and resulting in unconscious disturbances and emotional energy being used in ways that do not favour the health of the individual; treatment involves developing insight into these intrapsychic dynamics.

Existential therapy seeks to increase awareness in the present in grappling with the existential givens and explores the role of choice and freedom in constructing meaning, reconciling oneself to morality and self-responsibility in order that one may live more fully.

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