PSY 3303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Rollo May, Existential Therapy, Umwelt
4 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Alienation is the illness of our time, and it manifests itself in 3 areas: separation from natural existence in the environment (umwelt, lack of meaningful interpersonal relationships (mitwelt, alienation from one"s authentic self (eigenwelt) Healthy people live in an embodied way in their umwelt, mitwelt, and eigenwelt, simultaneously. They adopt to the natural world, relate to others as humans, and have a keen awareness of what all these experiences mean to them. Death is the most obvious representation of nonbeing. When the possibility of death is courageously confronted life becomes more vital, more meaningful. Choosing not to confront our nonbeing may translate into other forms of nonbeing such as addictions, promiscuous sexual activity, or other compulsive behaviours. Our nonbeing can also be expressed as blind conformity to society"s expectations. The fear of death or nonbeing often provokes us to live defensively (to shrivel up our being)
