The Therapeutic Relationship as an Existential Encounter
摘要
The therapeutic relationship of Brief Existential Psychotherapy (BEP) is characterized as an encounter between two existences. The first visit and the diagnostic interview follow a semi-structured, flexible method, where the collection of crucial information, recent and remote—as in psychiatric interviews—are guided and completed in one meeting to allow a DSM5-TR diagnosis for nosographic and administrative purposes, as well as a differential diagnosis towards other conditions. The psychotherapist carefully tunes in with the patient’s mind, documents the presence of life stress events and, particularly, their experience, the development of the current crisis, the context, coping abilities, and symptoms of present mental and physical suffering. The therapist is attentive to non-verbal communication, then shifts to the role of matching and the birth of a psychotherapist-robot.