4 ms·

An example would be helpful.

• germinalphrase 4y ago
  If you are indeed in a war zone seeing friends and family die, my comment is completely off base and I apologize. The therapists I know do certainly work with every day people struggling with (perhaps existential) anxiety/fear/depression. Where those concerns are negatively impacting someone's life, they are real and pressing concerns - if common. These therapists also regularly work with clients that are dealing with the effects of being victims (or perpetrators) of various forms of physical, sexual, and physiological violence. Even in wealthy areas, people do terrible things - particularly to the weak and the young. That job can be very intense.
  • roflc0ptic 4y ago
    Therapists do indeed experience “vicarious traumatization”, which is exactly what it sounds like. But this comes more from descriptions of traumatic experience than difficult existential questions. As others have said, existential questions are softballs. The rough stuff is staying present and emotionally open while someone describes a personally horrific experience. I think the unvarnished therapist response to existential questions is something like: that’s fine, those are valid, but they do in fact have no answer; the only way out is to turn our attention to the day to day problems of living. If you keep harping on unsolvable problems, I think they’ll mostly feel annoyed.