From Existential Psychotherapy to Existential Medicine

Peter Wilberg

From Existential Psychotherapy to Existential Medicine

Authors

Peter Wilberg Author

Keywords:

Psychotherapy, somatic medicine, biomedicine, iatrogenesis, felt body, felt dis-ease, meaning of illness, Zollikon seminars

Abstract

The aim of this article is to emphasise the relevance of existential analysis not just to psychotherapy but to both the philosophy and practice of medicine. Its message is that the very division of ‘psychotherapy’ from ‘somatic’ medicine runs counter to the philosophical foundations of existential analysis.