Dr. Youdin views the people he works
with from a strengths perspective. Rather than seeing a person as
pathological or sick, he views symptoms as a sign of weakened resiliency to the
psychosocial forces of one's life experiences. When these forces overwhelm a
person's resiliency, he or she loses a purpose to move forward with his or her
life. Without a purpose, a situation of being stuck occurs which creates an
existential vacuum. Finding oneself in an existential vacuum,
a person will use a purpose substitute in lieu of purpose, or positive forward
movement with his or her life. An existential vacuum is considered to be
a symptom of the failure of resilience to bio-psycho-social stressors affecting
a person rather than psychopathology emanating from a disease process within
the brain. There are five types of purpose substitutions: addictive,
social, morally good, social status seeking, and unfulfilling engagement.
The addictive
type will show a person substituting repetitive compulsive activities such
as substance abuse, pathological gambling, eating disorder behaviors, excessive
spending, etc. The social type
finds a person making superficial relationships, producing drama as an
attention getting device, or joining an organization for social acceptance
without necessarily being interested in the organization. The morally good type will show a person
demonstrating altruistic behaviors by advocating for causes in an inauthentic
manner. The social status seeking
type will show a person externalizing him or herself with symbols of money
such as material goods or organizational positions (jobs, community
organizations, political offices, country club memberships, etc.) that lend
prestige and power. The unfulfilling
engagement type will show a person substituting a purpose through excessive
activities such as long working hours, devotion to excessive television
viewing, compulsive internet use, overly rigid schedules, or other unfulfilling
non-interpersonal activities.
A person employing purpose
substitutions creates an existential permanency, or lack of purpose. The
goal of existential psychotherapy is to eliminate these substitutions and
replace them with positive coping skills based on a personŐs strengths, which
will lead to an enhanced resilience to bio-psycho-social stressors and a sense
of empowerment.