Session 8 - Courage to Be and Anxiety

Theological Foundations, Spiritual Formation and Psychotherapy : 

Theological Foundations, Spiritual Formation and Psychotherapy Session 8 Perspectives on Human Nature ANXIETY “…a gateway for exploration into the meaning of life” - Rollo May

Interactional Nature of Consciousness : 

Interactional Nature of Consciousness

Slide 3: 

I am: ____

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation Life Configuration Defining the Self Through Internal & External Dialogue

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation I am: ____ Role Friends Son Daughter Husband Lover Wife Brother Sister

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation Actions Career Student Teacher Counselor Athlete Runner Swimmer Musician Driver Loser Winner I am: ____

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation Emotions Depressed Angry Sad Anxious Stupid Happy Distrustful Skeptical Cynical Sensitive Body / Feelings Tired Awake Strong M/Female Fat Beautiful Ugly I am: ____

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation I am: ____ Values Caring Brave Just Honest Authentic Available Fair Efficiency Green Culture American Middle-Class

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation Beliefs Christian Democrat Republican Liberal Conservative I am: ____

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation I am: ____ Ideas Innovative Creative Artistic Intelligent Rational Insightful Problem-solver Organized

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation Event Victim Witness Audience Member Child of Alcoholic Participant Experienced I am: ____

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation I am: ____ Things Car Clothes Food House Technology

Dialogical Self in Relation : 

Dialogical Self in Relation Life Configuration How We Relate

Slide 14: 

Being Non-being Life Events Courage Despair Tillich’s Model

Courage : 

Courage Supports the other virtues Is required to love, hope, and have faith Supports love Is a primary virtue Transforms the way we are in the world

To Be or Not to Be? : 

To Be or Not to Be? In Spite of_____________ “Courage is self-affirmation ‘in spite of,’ that is in spite of that which tends to prevent the self from affirming the self. “ (p. 32) The ability of the self to affirm itself is not a matter of raising self esteem, but rather as the result of the self looking squarely into the face of non-being Involves accepting acceptance though unacceptable.

Courage as an Ethical Concept : 

Courage as an Ethical Concept Drives us to the better part of ourselves Gives us purpose to act

Anxiety : 

Anxiety Basic (Existential) Anxiety: The anxiety of a finite being threatened with non-being Part of life Pathological Anxiety: Inauthentic response to the challenge of life

4 Causes of Existential Anxiety - Yalom : 

4 Causes of Existential Anxiety - Yalom Anxiety issues from basic conflicts in each of these realms: We wish to continue to be and yet are aware of inevitable death We crave ground and structure and yet must confront groundlessness; Each of us desires contact, protection, to be a part of a larger whole, yet experiences the unbridgeable gap between self and others; We are meaning-seeking creatures thrown into a world that has no meaning” (Yalom, 1995, p. 91). (Heidigger – “Thrownness” alone onto the easel of existence)

3 Types of Existential Anxiety : 

3 Types of Existential Anxiety Anxiety of fate and death Triggered by the contingencies of life Anxiety of Emptiness and Meaninglessness Anxiety of Guilt and Condemnation

Pathological Anxiety : 

Pathological Anxiety Creates Incapacity The self affirmed is a reduced self Neurotic Personality Profound anxiety Defended against non-being Unregulated Attempts to find security and finality, escaping inevitable contingent nature of existence

Pathological Anxiety : 

Pathological Anxiety Frankl – Negative Attitudes Resulting from Life without Meaning 1) provisional (living day to day without much thought), 2) fatalistic (living with no need to plan because everything is predetermined), 3) conformist (mediocre living that is submerged with society), and 4) fanatic (belittles and denies other’s uniqueness).