What is Existential Analysis?
Existential Analysis was developed by Alfried Längle in the 90s as a phenomenological and person-oriented psychotherapy. The development started based on Viktor Frankls Logotherapy which is focused on the meaning in human life, which human can find in life.
But finding meaning in life needs preconditions fullfilled in the person:
This leads to the four fundamental conditions of existence:
CAN – LIKE – CONSCIENCE - MEANING
Martin Buber says „All life is encounter.“ which means that the human cannot live totally isolated from the world.
The human is questioned by life (conditions and possibilities) to make decisions and to take the responsibility for it. Also no decision is a decision! Therefore the decsision respectively the decision process is the main element of human existence.
Every decision needs the basis of the four fundamental conditions of existence. A deficit within the four fundamental conditions leads to a deficiency in the decision-process and further on to a lack of meaning. As meaning is essential for life this leads to problems, discrepancies and in the worst case to suffer.
Existential Analysis can help to strenghten (counselling) or to rebuild (psychotherapy) the structure and the ressources of the four fundamental conditions and the decision-process respectively to find a way to a meaningful life.
If you are interested in more details of Existential Analysis you can find a detailed description from Alfried Längle here.