Strasser Alison - The Wheel of Existence

1. Chapter 12

Second Edition

Alison Strasser
With Freddie Strasser

This second edition first published 2022
2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Edition History
John Wiley & Sons Ltd (1e, 1997)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

The right of Alison Strasser to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with law.

Registered Offices
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Editorial Office
The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products visit us at www.wiley.com.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by printondemand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty
The contents of this work are intended to further general scientific research, understanding, and discussion only and are not intended and should not be relied upon as recommending or promoting scientific method, diagnosis, or treatment by physicians for any particular patient. In view of ongoing research, equipment modifications, changes in governmental regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to the use of medicines, equipment, and devices, the reader is urged to review and evaluate the information provided in the package insert or instructions for each medicine, equipment, or device for, among other things, any changes in the instructions or indication of usage and for added warnings and precautions. While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Strasser, Alison, author. | Strasser, Freddie, author.
Title: Timelimited existential therapy : the wheel of existence / Alison Strasser with Freddie Strasser
Other titles: Existential timelimited therapy.
Description: Second edition. | Hoboken, NJ : WileyBlackwell, 2022. | Revision of: Existential timelimited therapy / Freddie Strasser and Alison Strasser. 1997. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021043976 (print) | LCCN 2021043977 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118713716 (paperback) | ISBN 9781118713686 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781118713709 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Existential psychotherapy. | Brief psychotherapy.
Classification: LCC RC489.E93 S77 2022(print) | LCC RC489.E93(ebook) | DDC 616.89/147dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021043976
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021043977

Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: Dody Strasser, RBA

Freddie Strasser (19242008)

This book is dedicated to my dad, Freddie Strasser, whose wisdom, innovation, and vision, whose passion for the timelimited modular approach, and whose appetite for wheels of every description laid the foundational ideas upon which this book is based.

Thank you for remaining steadfastly by my side as this second edition took shape and for your unswerving belief.

Your Hungarian charm and infectious smile will continue to ripple in all those who have been touched by your irrepressible spirit.

All therapy, de facto, is time limited and has a beginning and an end. In this it is very much like human existence. The more we allow ourselves to be aware of the limits of life, the defter we get at using the space and time available to us. It is like this with therapy too: the more we approach it with awareness of its limits and boundaries, the sharper becomes its lens, allowing us to throw a clear light on a persons difficulties whilst illuminating their possibilities. Time, here too, is of the essence, as it leads us naturally from our memoryladen past, through our present predicaments, towards a future purpose and destination. Throughout the pages of this book our journey in time points the way towards progress, meaning, and understanding.

When Freddie Strasser and his daughter Alison Strasser coauthored their book on timelimited therapy at the end of the 1990s, they had both relatively recently completed their existential training (with me), but had already shown themselves to be prime contributors to the existential approach. In that earlier book I recognised many of the ingredients I had introduced them to, though they had been mixed and prepared in a new way, providing a fresh and original take on existential therapy that foregrounded the important theme of the timelimited nature of our profession.

In this new volume, Alison Strasser has remixed the themes, elegantly updating her vision of timelimited work, displaying her maturity of thought and her professionalism. Here we find a broader spectrum, a more coherent narrative, and a much more surefooted account of timelimited existential therapy. This is now a clear and carefully worked out guide demonstrating to existential therapists how they can concretely apply these ideas to their everyday practice with their clients. This is a book by a seasoned and talented therapist, who has not only seen hundreds of clients over the intervening decades, but who has created a thriving existential training institute of her own, in Sydney, Australia, and who has taught and supervised many hundreds of trainees over the years.

The experience jumps off the page and is continuously in evidence through the intertwining of theoretical concepts and practical application. There are many vignettes, whose storylines are engaging whilst highlighting the points that matter. There are great summaries of relevant philosophical ideas and of salient practitioners work. There are also plenty of original contributions, culminating in a brandnew wheel of existence, which will speak to existential therapists worldwide.