Rollo May

His educational path evolved with him, as he moved through different life experiences. For example, he began at Michigan State University, earning a bachelor's degree in English, which he later completed at Oberlin College. Then, he taught English for three years in Greece, where he developed an interest in theology.

Upon his return to the United States, he was ordained as a minister and worked in the church for several years. It was around this time that May was diagnosed with tuberculosis. As was the custom at that time, May recovered at a sanatorium over the course of 18 months.

This life-threatening illness and the long recovery process strengthened May's interest in philosophy and psychology. In fact, it was after the time spent in the sanatorium, that May developed a strong interest in anxiety since he had had an opportunity to observe, not only his own experience of anxiety, but also those around him, who were dealing with anxiety, isolation, fear, depersonalization, and even death itself.

Once he fully recovered, May returned to the academic world and earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1949.

May went on to found both Saybrook University and a research center in San Francisco. He also taught at many top schools throughout the United States and wrote many seminal books, which are still considered relevant today - not only to psychologists and fellow researchers but to people like you and me, too.

What Is Existential Psychology?

To best understand existential psychology, it's helpful to know what existentialism is, and the social context from which it came.

Leading up to the 20th century, psychology had embraced science and all its objectivity, and in so doing, psychology had rejected philosophy almost entirely.

Leading up to the 20th century, May recognized how science essentially isolated facts and observed: "them from an allegedly detached base." This included mental illness.

For example, Freud and his followers "sought to bring a scientific methodology to the study of the mind and mental processes, including psychological disorders and psychotherapy." As Sartre noted, they didn't go further than "describing mere patterns of desires and tendencies."

While our natural reaction might be to condemn Freud and his disciples, it's important to realize that this was only a natural evolution of what had already begun hundreds of years prior.

According to May, Western thought had been dominated by the split between subject and object ever since the Renaissance - and this seeped into everything from industrialism, urbanism, and medicine.

Existentialism was, for May, a way to heal that divide and to see a man not as a collection of separate parts, but as a whole being.

Existential Philosophy Sees The Human Person As An Entire Being

Is There A Place For Existential Philosophy In Scientific Psychology And Psychotherapy?

How Does Existential Philosophy Enrich Psychoanalysis?

Rollo May's approach reveals how valuable the individual and his experiences are.

As you can see, Rollo May isn't merely an inspirational writer, or someone who quotes make a nice background for your PC. May's quotes below stem from a belief that the human person and his own unique human experience should be front and center of any healing.

May's Quotes On Depression

• "Depression is the inability to construct a future."
• "We are more apt to feel depressed by the perpetually smiling individual than the one who is honestly sad. If we admit our depression openly and freely, those around us get from it an experience of freedom rather than the depression itself."
• "Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is."

May's Quotes On Creativity

• "Freedom is man's capacity to take a hand in his development. We can mold ourselves."
• "The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice; it is conformity."
• "If you do not express your original ideas, if you do not listen to your being, you will have betrayed yourself."
• "Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem."

May's Quotes On Suffering

• "One does not become fully human"
• "Suffering is nature's way of indicating a mistaken attitude or way of behavior, and to the nonegocentric person, every moment of suffering is the opportunity for growth. People should rejoice in suffering, strange as it sounds, for this is a sign of the availability of energy to transform their characters."
• "Many people suffer from the fear of finding oneself alone, and so they don't find themselves at all."