Existential Psychololgy- Rollo May - Assignment Example

Article 1 In his article, Peng (2011) presents a tribute to Rollo May and his theory of existential psychology. Peng (2011) describes himself as a psychology student and tries to trace his journey in understanding May’s theory and the ways of its application. The author describes his introduction to existentialism through philosophers like Camus and Sartre, and then the realization that Rollo acted as a link between psychology and existentialism. However, the expectations that the author had about the theory of existentialism were not exactly met when he started studying May.

First, the author expected May to describe the freedom of being, instead, May described the depth of being. After the first misgivings, the author continued exploring May’s works, and came to realize that May’s existentialism was based on the concept of being. This can be summed up that the understanding of the whole being is infinitely more satisfying that understanding the sum of its parts. After understanding the basics of Rollo’s theory, Peng (2011) continues to intimately describe the inner workings of the theory, as he understood it.

The author describes May’s theory as a complex one, in which May used complexity and paradox. The author gives several examples of complex paradoxes that May employed in his writings, and states that he finally understood May’s subtle indications of freedom. The article concludes by describing the type of freedom that May alludes to in his writing and the struggles that go into achieving freedom. Article 2 Pitchford (2009) uses different approach in discussing May’s existential psychology theory.

In the article, the work of May is reviewed, after which the author discusses the applications of the theory in the treatment of traumatic stress. The application is based on Rollo’s insinuation that existential psychology aims to understand the being and the attributes that they introduce to therapy. Pitchford (2009) quotes May’s proposition that the disintegration of Western culture has and is continuing to happen due to a number of reasons, chief among them being the loss of appreciation of classics.

As a result of the loss of culture, the West has failed to understand how previous generations would handle anxiety and live events. Pitchford (2009) describes May as a psychologist who tried to overturn the decay in society through the application of existential psychology. The main part of the article describes the application of existential therapy in healing of clients, stating that it encourages the client to bond with the therapist while at the same time understanding their experiences in the world.

This is based on Rollo’s insistence that the therapist should let the client experience their own anxieties and not force any theoretical approach on them. In this way, the client can confront their own anxieties and be aware of any other anxieties they may have. Pitchford (2009) describes the application of May’s theory and the life of May that helped him develop the theory mentioned. Article 3 Pfaffenberger (2007) looks at the optimal development and health of an adult in three perspectives.

The article compares the existential psychology theory by Rollo May, self-actualization by Maslow and the theory of