Emmy van Deurzen, a Dutch existential therapist who moved to the UK in 1977 inspired by anti-psychiatrist RD Laing, has become a leading figure in her field. Her philosophical approach to therapy, which focuses on helping people make sense of life's challenges, has grown into a global movement. In a new book, Beginning to Live, she distills complex philosophical ideas into practical guidance for a general audience.
Van Deurzen's journey began at the Arbours Association in London, a therapeutic community based on Laing's ideas where residents and therapists lived together. She found the experience challenging, as residents often self-medicated with alcohol and cannabis, and crises were common. She concluded that anti-psychiatry had 'lost courage' by releasing people from asylums without providing adequate support. 'From that moment on I just knew: nobody's doing this. I'm going to have to do it myself,' she says.
She co-founded the first existential therapy centre in the UK at Arbours. Existential therapy, she explains, is 'a philosophical approach to therapy and how to live your life in a better way… about working with life, rather than just with the psyche'. Many of the 350-odd existential therapists accredited by the UK Council for Psychotherapy have trained at schools she established.
The movement's roots trace back to Swiss psychiatrists Ludwig Binswanger and Medard Boss in the 1930s, who applied Martin Heidegger's ideas to mental illness. Van Deurzen, however, sees a broader heritage stretching to ancient Greek, Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist thinkers. 'Human beings have always had conversations about what's going wrong in their lives, what it means to be alive, how they can live a better life,' she says.
In her book, she draws on philosophers from Sartre to Kierkegaard, as well as Viktor Frankl and the poet Rumi, to explore how we can cultivate meaning and freedom despite suffering. She quotes Frankl's insight that the one freedom that cannot be taken is 'to choose one's attitude in any given circumstances'.
