Which therapy places importance on the present and considers that feelings of loneliness and alienation are the cause of psychological problems?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Existential therapy
Option (1) Existential therapy — Correct. Existential therapies hold that questions about the meaning of one’s life and existence cause psychological problems. The existential therapy places importance on the present: it is the current feelings of loneliness, alienation and futility of one’s existence that cause the problems, which is what the question describes.
Option (2) Behavioral therapy — Incorrect. Behaviour therapy traces problems to faulty learning: faulty conditioning patterns, faulty thinking and beliefs lead to maladaptive behaviour. It does not see loneliness and alienation as the cause.
Option (3) Gestalt therapy — Incorrect. Gestalt therapy, given by Fritz and Laura Perls, aims to increase self-awareness and self-acceptance; the client is taught to recognise bodily processes and emotions blocked out from awareness, by acting out fantasies about feelings and conflicts. Its stress is on awareness, not on loneliness and alienation as the cause of problems.
Option (4) Cognitive therapy — Incorrect. Cognitive therapies locate the cause of distress in irrational thoughts and beliefs, and challenge the client’s faulty thinking patterns.
NCERT (2025-26): “Type of Therapies … 1. What is the cause, which has led to the problem? Psychodynamic therapy is of the view that intrapsychic conflicts, i.e. the conflicts that are present within the psyche of the person, are the source of psychological problems. According to behaviour therapies, psychological problems arise due to faulty learning of behaviours and cognitions. The existential therapies postulate that the questions about the meaning of one’s life and existence are the cause of psychological problems.…” “Type of Therapies … 2. How did the cause come into existence? In the psychodynamic therapy, unfulfilled desires of childhood and unresolved childhood fears lead to intrapsychic conflicts. The behaviour therapy postulates that faulty conditioning patterns, faulty learning, and faulty thinking and beliefs lead to maladaptive behaviours that, in turn, lead to psychological problems. The existential therapy places importance on the present. It is the current feelings of loneliness, alienation, sense of futility of one’s existence, etc., which cause psychological problems.…” “Gestalt Therapy … The goal of gestalt therapy is to increase an individual’s self-awareness and self-acceptance. The client is taught to recognise the bodily processes and the emotions that are being blocked out from awareness. The therapist does this by encouraging the client to act out fantasies about feelings and conflicts.…” |