What Is This Thing Called Life?

What is this thing called life and how should I live it? Why am I so affected by others responses to me? Why does what is inside of myself often seem to be negated by the life I have created outside?

These are questions intrinsically located within human consciousness and addressed by philosophers, theoreticians, and people such as you and I. No matter what our professions, our mental capacities, or our artistic talents, we are all equal in that to varying degrees we strive for a sense of purpose, meaning and understanding of our world and our relationships with ourselves and others.

As we journey through our lives on a daily basis, conscious and unconscious responses are being evoked in a free associative stream of thought in relation to the objects or people which we pass by or engage with. Often these experiences can create a sense of joy or bonding, but just as often we may be thrown into anxiety, anger or isolation.

Answers as to why we respond in these ways can be found by exploring the self, the unconscious processes which drive us to varying degrees and the lived stories which evoke our responses to the world of things and others. Psychotherapy is a process within which our creative strivings for meaning in our lives and in our relationships can be voiced, digested and afforded understanding in a manner which can create a sense of hopefulness... And a remission of dread ...

The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Counselling Directory are reviewed by our editorial team.

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Rode (Near Bath), Somerset, BA11 6NZ
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Written by Paula Fenn, MBACP(SnrAccred)MastersCounselling GradDipPsychoanalyticPsychotherapy
Rode (Near Bath), Somerset, BA11 6NZ

I am a qualified Counsellor and Psychotherapist and a Member of a number of Professional Counselling/Psychotherapy bodies. This includes being a Senior Accredited Member of The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy whose Code of Ethics I adopt. I work predominantly with adult individ...

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