1st Edition
Heideggerian Existential Therapy Philosophical Ideas in Practice
Heideggerian Existential Therapy focuses on Martin Heidegger’s philosophy in order to provide both a wider accessibility as well as understanding of its relevance to therapeutic practice.
This book unveils in great depth the core tenets of Heidegger’s thinking, without presuming any philosophical background. It attends to the manner in which we inevitably undergo disruptions, disturbances, perturbations, breakdowns, and collapses in the course of our lives, and on the way in which they can be addressed and understood from an existential therapeutic perspective. The text covers Heidegger’s ideas with illustrations and examples, in order to free them from the confines of philosophy in a way that then enables them to be brought directly into the therapy room. Each chapter takes the reader from an initial philosophical grounding of this approach towards a clear and concrete way of working existentially with clients.
The text is primarily intended for trainee and practising psychotherapists, but will undoubtedly be of considerable relevance and interest to coaches, consultants, and trainers who wish to expand and deepen their skills and approaches in their own fields.
PART I: Introduction 1. The World of Therapy 2. Why Heidegger? 3. The Question of Human Existence 4. Human Existence and Existential Therapy 5. Methodological Considerations PART II: Dasein 6. Dasein 7. Dasein’s Way of Being PART II: Dasein’s Challenges 8. Disruptions, Ruptures, Disturbances, Breakdowns, Collapses 9. Existentiales and Breakdowns 10. Some Breakdowns in Therapy 11. Transitioning Breakdowns 12. A Cartesian Breakdown: Winnicott PART IV: Heideggerian Existential Therapy 13. Working Phenomenologically 14. Formal Indication as a Therapeutic Approach 15. Working Hermeneutically 16. Working Existentially 17. Working Existentially with Dreams
Biography
Mo Mandić is an existential therapist and clinical supervisor in private practice, based in London, UK. He also teaches and supervises trainee therapists at the School of Psychotherapy and Psychology, Regent’s University London, and New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling.
‘This remarkable book by Mo Mandić is a major contribution to existential therapy from a Heideggerian perspective in its difference to other forms of therapy and an important further extension of Heidegger´s philosophy into the field of therapy. The book makes understandable the basic ideas of Heidegger´s existential analytic of Dasein, which inspired the work of both Binswanger and Boss in the last century, in their relevance for psychotherapy today. For Heidegger scholars, it is an important contribution to research into the relation of Heidegger´s thinking and its practical relevance. The author writes in a clear and accessible style which helps the reader to grasp also the more difficult topics in Heidegger´s understanding of the human being.’
Alfred Denker, PhD, Director of the Martin-Heidegger-Archive, Messkirch; co-director of the Archivo-Heidegger, Seville.
‘Martin Heidegger's impact upon the theory and practice of existential therapy is both wide-ranging and — for many therapists — close to inaccessible due to the originality (and complexity) of his radical philosophical arguments. Thankfully, Dr. Mo Mandić's Heideggerian Existential Therapy succeeds in teasing out key ideas and concerns in a highly accessible account that, nonetheless, retains a genuine Heideggerian spirit of enquiry. This is a book that calls into question many of the most foundational assumptions regarding both the aims and practice of therapy. Although of particular pertinence to existential therapists, I have no doubt that practitioners and trainees allied to any of the current approaches to psychotherapy and counselling will be both challenged and enlightened by Dr. Mandić's exposition.’
Ernesto Spinelli, PhD, Professor, author of Practising Existential Therapy: The Relational World (2nd ed).
‘Mo Mandić’s Heideggerian Existential Therapy: Philosophical Ideas in Practice is a welcome and important addition to the growing literature on Heideggerian therapy. However, rather than tread familiar ground, Mandić’s book advances our understanding of existential therapy on several fronts. Alongside serving an accessible overview of Heideggerian concepts, Heideggerian Existential Therapy also articulates in vivid clarity how these concepts can be situated in the centre of therapeutic practice. Interspersed with rich vignettes from a diverse range of case studies, the book sheds light on key issues such as breakdowns, identity, and dreaming. Destined to be a formative work within the genre, Heideggerian Existential Therapy is a must read for those interested and working within the existential tradition of therapy.’
Dylan Trigg, PhD, FWF Senior Researcher at the University of Vienna, Department of Philosophy.
