TO BE ALIVE. A DASEINSANALYTICAL VIEW ON CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH PSYCHOTHERAPY

“To be alive”. A sixteen years old client of mine used this expression to describe her wish and within the possibility of what may come after the therapeutic process. It is a beautiful and pure and at the same time a universal uttering. The epochs of childhood and youth are very special periods in the life of all of us. Never again we experience such an immense kind of development in our existential possibilities. It's intensity, tempo and dimensions are tremendous. Therefore the risks are also very high. In this process we are highly sensitive, vulnerable and bare so that every difficulty, every disappointment, every – even short – loss of love can have a deep and devastating impact on our possibilities to be open to the world and be free in living out our own Dasein as well as living out from our own true ground. In this particular period of life, we are totally and utterly exposed and if we don't get what we need in order to develop and grow in our unique way, if we are unable to respond appropriately to what life brings for us, we develop psychological disorders. In my article I would like to illuminate the human existence, this very specific period of life, through daseinsanalytical, phenomenological view. This includes personality development, openness towards the unique individual possibilities to come to the world and getting and staying open to the world, being truly alive. The term “development” is discussed here in its phenomenological understanding, describing the phenomenon as becoming more and more open to the world due to the unique individual possibilities. Furthermore some Existentialia and how they reveal itself in their singular mode to the world are being outlined in different phases of childhood and youth. Finally the therapeutic uniqueness of daseinsanalytical relationship is described under the aspect of psychotherapy with youth.