Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling

Mick Cooper is Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Roehampton, where he is Director of the Centre for Research in Social and Psychological Transformation (CREST). Mick is a chartered psychologist, a UKCP registered psychotherapist, and a Fellow of the BACP. Mick is author and editor of a range of texts on person-centred, existential and relational approaches to therapy; including Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2005, SAGE, with Dave Mearns), Pluralistic Counselling and Psychotherapy (2011, SAGE, with John McLeod) and Existential Therapies (2nd edn, 2017, SAGE). Mick has led a series of research studies exploring the processes and outcomes of humanistic counselling with young people. Mick is the father of four children and lives in Brighton on the south coast of England.

A very strong resource for any therapist with an interest in existentialism as a set of ideas and practices. It is learned, erudite, yet rooted and grounded in practice in a thoughtful and helpful way. The ideas are clear and sound, complemented with reflective exercises and thought-provoking questions, and draw upon popular literature and music as well as the more abstruse professional literature. Cooper’s aim to ‘give readers a vivid, practical and down-to-earth guide to existential therapeutic methods, along with the theoretical understandings that guide these ways of working’ (page 7) has been richly met.

• IntroductionRelational foundationsWorking phenomenologicallyFreedom and choiceLimitationsPurpose and meaningInterpersonal perceptions and metaperceptionsDiscussionAppendix 1 Existential films: Ten to watchAppendix 2 Existential films: Ten to watchAppendix 3 Existential songs: Ten to sing-along to