Existential Psychology East-West (Volume 2)

Book excerpt: Existential-Psychology East-West (Volume 2) emerged from continued dialogues on existential psychology, particularly existential-humanistic psychology, in Southeast Asia. This volume includes authors from Southeast Asia, India, Africa, Europe, and the United States, including Xuefu Wang, Louise Sundararajan, Mark Yang, Louis Hoffman, Al Dueck, Albert Chan, Donna Rockwell, Ilene Serlin, Rainbow Tin Hung Ho, Rochelle Suri, Meili Pinto, and Anthony K. Nkyi. The book is divided into three sections: 1) Theory and Practice, 2) Applications and Case Illustrations, and 3) Existential Perspectives on Cultural Myths. The first three chapter focus on Zhi Mian Therapy, an indigenous Chinese approach to existential psychology. These chapters are the most comprehensive overview of Zhi Mian Therapy in English to date. Other theory chapters include a discussion of international psychology from an existential-humanistic perspective, the concept of Sui Wu Fu Xing, men’s violence against women, Sunyata, and the concept of savoring. The second section focuses on a variety of case illustrations to illuminate the practice of existential therapy in different cultural contexts. The final section expands upon existential perspectives of myths as developed in Rollo May’s The Cry for Myth and Existential Psychology East-West (Volume 1). Seven myths from different cultural contexts are examined from an existential perspective. Along with Volume 2, Existential-Psychology East-West (Volume 2) represents a landmark contribution to the existential psychology literature.