Mr Dixit, 58, a retired bank officer in Bhopal, lost his wife a year after he retired. He tells his therapist that nothing he does feels worth doing any more. In the sessions, the therapist speaks openly about her own feelings, her values and her own life. She keeps the talk on what Mr Dixit is facing today rather than on his childhood. When he begins to treat her the way he once treated his elder sister, she does not encourage it and turns him back to the present moment.
Identify the therapy used with Mr Dixit and its goal.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Logotherapy; to help him find the meaning of his being
Option (1) Logotherapy; to help him find the meaning of his being — Correct. A therapist who shares her own feelings and values, stays with the here and now and discourages transference is working in logotherapy, given by Victor Frankl. Its goal is to help the client find meaning in life, which suits Mr Dixit's empty feeling after his loss.
Option (2) Client-centred therapy; to help him become his real self — Incorrect. Carl Rogers' client-centred therapy helps the client become the real self through empathy and unconditional positive regard. Its therapist reflects the client's feelings and does not share her own values and existence.
Option (3) Psychodynamic therapy; to resolve his inner conflicts through transference — Incorrect. Psychodynamic therapy uses transference and goes back to childhood conflicts. Mr Dixit's therapist does the opposite: she stays with the present and does not encourage transference.
Option (4) Gestalt therapy; to increase his self-awareness and self-acceptance — Incorrect. Gestalt therapy, given by Fritz and Laura Perls, raises self-awareness by having the client act out fantasies about feelings and conflicts. No such acting out happens in these sessions.
NCERT (2026-27): “Existential Therapy … |