Understanding Existential Psychology in a Global Context

"Existential psychology began in the West, but it does not belong to the West... existential psychology was first labeled in the West, but it does not belong to the West. In my preparation for the Fourth World Congress of Existential Therapy, the question of where existential psychology fits into a global context has again been at the forefront of my thoughts."

"Labeling does not equate to ownership. Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are widely considered the first existentialists; however, the first use of the label "existential" in an academic or scholarly context is often attributed to Gabriel Marcel, who first used it in 1943 in a lecture on John Paul Sartre."

"Because the development of existentialism as a school of thought began before the label was formalized, it is easy to debate the origins of the term. What is clear, though, is that the origins of existentialism as a school of thought predate the label by more than half a century."

Existential psychology originated in the West through figures like Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, but labeling does not equate to ownership. The formal academic label "existential" emerged in 1943 with Gabriel Marcel and gained prominence through Sartre's 1945 lecture. However, existential thought predates its formalized label by over fifty years, with Daseinsanalysis developing in the 1930s. Approaching global dialogues in psychology requires cultural humility, recognizing that existentialism encompasses many diverse approaches rather than a singular theory. Global engagement strengthens existential therapy's relevance and advancement across different cultural contexts.

Read at Psychology Today