Existential Therapy Role-Play - Near Death Experience

This video features a counseling role-play in which existential therapy is used to process feelings related to a near death experience.

[laurynmoffa]

I appreciate the sense of being in "the here and now" that the client and therapist depict throughout this session. It was educational hearing the therapist refrain from attempting to find an answer or solution for how the client was feeling but simply allowed him the opportunity to talk about what he had been through. The therapist remained completely present with the client and was warm and empathic and simply existed with him in the present moment.

[jasmiraross]

I think the most profound information from this video is the client revaluating his life. He's like you know, "I spent my entire life working towards certain gains, and in just one moment, none of the things I have acquired mattered to me." The counselor took that grief and flipped it shining light on his own revelation, and asked "so what things do you value now? What is important?" The client had the opportunity to appreciate a new way of living with a new found importance.

[dHunter]

As I’m watching this roleplay, you can see and hear the fear and stress in the client's face and in his voice. Dr. Grande is expressing an imperative use of basic listening skills and empathy especially while the client is speaking on such a sensitive topic. This is imperative in the use of every technique and session, but especially in Existential Therapy as clients will be speaking about extremely sensitive topics such as a near-death experience. In this case, Dr. Grande used a lot of reflection and paraphrasing to help the client come to his “epiphany” moment, where he truly began to realize that he needs to take a step back from his work at times and spend some time with loved ones while he. I really appreciated watching this because it showed how the therapist can focus on the here and now in retrospect to something as life-altering as a near-death experience.

[amandavalentino]

Dr. Grande. I found that when looking at existential therapy and comparing it to person-centered therapy, you had great basic listening skills that allowed for the client to be open and truthful about his near death experience. Throughout your session, you summarized carefully which in return made the client comfortable because you truly heard him while he was expressing his feelings, thoughts and emotions. I did enjoy the questions you asked, that lead to the clients reflection such as, " The way you relate to the world, do you have a new perspective?" and "What do you think is valuable now." By asking minimal questions, allowed the client was able to express his new out look on life which resulted in not taking things for granted.

[beritmason]

I love old Dr Grande counseling videos, much more than the celeb analysis. people who love therapy love to watch these. it is really helpful.

[johnchristinadarwin]

I like how Dr. Grande ended the session by asking the client to reflect on his previous mindset and recognizing his growth. The client turned a bad experience into a life changing experience all around. He is now doing things that are creating a more meaningful life for him.

[rebeccafalter]

This type of therapy is definitely great for a near death experience because life and death play a large part in existentialism. It was nice that Dr. Grande was bringing the client's attention to the positives that came from the fire as well as leading him to focus on the meaning of his life and what is important to him for his life. Focusing on how the client can now live a more fulfilling life after this experience was very powerful to watch because it was turning a traumatic event in his life into something positive by acknowledging the changes he has made in order to cater to his values and fulfilling his meaning of life.

[kaitlynforaker]

This video really helped me understand this type of therapy. I felt that the client was able to benefit from the session. The client was able to discuss the issues of end of life. The therapist provided lots of detail in this session.

[elyshamason]

I can appreciate what existential therapy can do for a client especially when something such as a near death experience will have you pondering on this such as the meaning of life. However, the counselor walks with the client in his journey as he recognizes the difference in things he used to care for (objects) versus what matters now (relationship) and how that can be a good thing. While the client regretted not having relationship as his focus before there can be joy found in realizing that relationship is important to him now and how he can build upon that.

[ericahammond]

Dr. Grande did a wonderful job at paraphrase the clients emotions, which lead to the clients ability to recognize his strengths and the positives that he has gained from his near death experience. Dr. Grande empathized with the clients emotions and reflected the clients new outlook on life was a new beginning for him to experience life in a different way than he had prior to this experience.

[jackiedeleonardis]

Reading about existential therapy is different than getting to see it in action and it is really beneficial to see how it can be utilized in a session. This role play helped me to see how person-centered therapy can integrate existential therapy and why it is common for counselors to integrate these two theories. You can see Dr. Grande listening, attending, reflecting, and getting to the core of what is important and helping the client to come to this realization of their own value and worth.

[deniseswindell]

This theory was difficult to say exactly how it was used but I noticed there was more paraphrasing of the clients reflections and feelings. Helping the client put his experience into practice and helping the client identify this new meaning about his own life's values and priorities played a large role in his session. In summarizing Dr. Grande helped the client to reaffirm these changes in his thinking and how he is beginning to channel this experience. He discussed the new and old version of the client and had him reflect on those changes to begin processing this experience further and find ways to grow through this experience.

[moodifull]

This was a good role play of what existential therapy is like. The client was able to discuss his experience and the therapist kept up with him by providing effective reflections and paraphrases. The therapist also focused on the change in thoughts and feelings from the client working a lot to pay for materials and after the fire how his mindset went from that to being more focused on the relationships and interactions with others. One goal of existential therapy is to become aware of the self and find the meaning of ones life. The therapist was able to get the client to pull out more info on why he feels the way he does now as opposed to before. He also was able to have the client continue to reflect on that in order to really finalize his thoughts regarding this new thought process. This was a good example.

[brandiependergast]

I think this was a great example of existential therapy. The client had a near death experience so now he's starting to question his life. Dr. Grande does a great job getting the client to focus on the here and now as well as asking him about his values. By summarizing what the client has already stated he has encouraged him to think about his values and goals as they were prior to this experience and how they appear now that he has been through this. I think this was a great demonstration of this therapy.

[kassietrala]

This role play did a great job of putting on display how a near death experience can give someone a new gained awareness. Before the client experienced an apartment fire he didn't think much about anything but work and making money. After his fear invoking experience he realized that money and the objects he owned meant nothing to him. He gained a new perspective of his life, realizing that his relationships with others was more meaningful than getting 40+ hours of work in. With this new perspective the client has begun to live life and enjoy it more by simply finding greater meaning in his life.

[marisamaguire]

Having learned about Existential Therapy, I find that I can truly resonate with the concept and practice. Having experienced my own form of existential crisis, causing me to reevaluate my life purpose and direction, I find that I implemented many of the techniques used within the theory. After watching Dr. Grande’s demonstration of Existential Therapy, I find as though it can be beneficial for numerous individuals by allowing them to determine their beliefs, goals, purpose, and meaning in life, while providing new perspective. Overall, I appreciated how Dr. Grande allowed the client to view is near death experience in a more positive light, having the client consider how he can learn from the experience and what he can take away from it. Additionally, I appreciated how Dr. Grande introduced the idea of living in two separate worlds – that of material, and that of people – I find as though this idea helps the client to put things into perspective and determine what he truly values. I find that - no matter the circumstance – the methods of Existential Therapy may be beneficial in order to allow individuals to become more centered and refocus on their goals, purpose, and values, especially when interacting in a society where it is easy to loose touch with ourselves, through social media, societal expectations etc.

[remigiusdemby]

In this therapy, I realized that the therapist does a lot of talking. This video clip helps in making people appreciate life's experiences and value those things you take for granted because life is finite. This situation here is really frightening.

[kristinblake]

The depth of Existential therapy is experienced in this session through authenticity. In this case, the client reflects on the meaning of life through his experienced crisis directly. Dr. Grande stays with the theme of death and finding the meaning of life. The client is able to express his new perspective of life in finding value in relationship versus objects. He is less self-involved and more aware of his mortality invoking a greater experience of "being". I also noticed Dr. Grande's use of the basic listening sequence to gain an understanding of the client's experience and to show genuine empathy. Essentially Dr. Grande stayed in the moment with the client and encouraged him to talk his way through it as a way to bring his thoughts and feelings into his reality and then to find a way to balance his old perspective with his new.

[kaitlynsantola]

I enjoyed being able to see how to use Existential therapy in a counseling setting. This is a very hard theory to understand and this video helped me understand it a little better. Dr. Grande did a great job paraphrasing and clarifying when the client presented a lot of information at once. The one thing that really stuck out to me was when the client said, "I value people over objects". With the help of the therapist, the client was able to reevaluate his life and what his priorities were.

[marissabarnes]

In this roleplay, Dr. Grande seemed very authentic. His client shared a near-death experience that changed his view of the world. Before this tragic experience, he valued objects over intimacy and quality time spent with loved ones. His life now had a new meaning. Dr. Grande acknowledged the way his client seemed to reflect and compare his past life to his present. Walks and conversations over lunch became more appealing, or more valuable, than money, new cars, and several other objects. I enjoyed watching this roleplay and how Dr. Grande allowed the client to make connections while openly expressing his fears and thoughts about death. He was very supportive.