The Importance of Existential Courage in Experiencing Boundary Situations
Keywords:
Existential psychotherapy, courage, boundary situations, Karl Jaspers A little while ago, my lovely daughter Jasmine was born. That was not what I had planned. Nor had I planned living in a family with two other marvellous kids, Victor and Hania. I had not planned falling in vivid, enriching love with my present wife, Magdalena, either. Quite the contrary, I saw a lonely path ahead of me. Over the last twenty years, I have been living quite a tranquil and lonely life. Getting up early to do training (being a triathlon and running fan, I used to train around fifteen hours per week ), then seeing patients until evening (with a lunch break and an obligatory nap) and going to bed early, reading and exploring new ideas in existential therapy and psychoanalysis before sleep. I had a few good friends, with whom I met from time to time. But although it took me a while to really face it, my marriage was not thriving. My first wife and I were living under one roof, not colliding, but also not really connecting in our childless marriage. One year led to the next, and before I knew it I was forty, officially in mid-life. I bought a single, one-person light tent for long, lonely bike trips. So, what has happened? I believe I have personally experienced theAbstract
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Karl Jaspers introduced the concept of ‘boundary situations’. This paper will explore its use in existential psychotherapy, showing how we all – psychotherapists and patients – can become ourselves by entering into inherent existence and unavoidable boundary situations with existential courage.
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Published
2021-07-01
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Section
Articles
