Existential Givens
There are four existential givens, and struggling with any or all produces what is known as existential angst:
Death is inevitable
Everyone is ultimately alone
We are free to make of our lives as we will
There is no obvious meaning or sense to life
Human Rights
There are some fundamental human rights, but you’ll be amazed how many people don’t
recognise them, for themselves and/or for others. In fact often they will see others as
having these rights and forget they have them too.
All people have the right:
To be
To be separate
To be autonomous
To grow
To change
To need AND to be independent
To have needs met
To assert themselves
To love and be loved
To be free and lovingly committed
To be treated with respect
To be respected as an equal human being
To say yes or no for ourselves
To express our feelings and opinions
To make mistakes
To change our minds
To say I don’t know
To decline responsibility for the actions of others
These givens are very useful for both client and therapist alike. Understanding these, will give greater insight into the issues presented with a greater degree of clarity, comes a greater chance at a successful intervention.
