Philosophy

for therapists

The New England Center for Existential Therapy was established to encourage the exploration of phenomenological and existential perspectives and their application to the work of therapists, philosophers, artists, and other students of the human condition. At each of NECET's quarterly meetings, a featured speaker presents on a topic related to the year's theme. Two discussants share prepared responses that open a period of facilitated group discussion.

Events & Announcements

Featured

Aug 10

Announcing the 2024-2025 Conference Series

NECET presents its 2024-2025 Conference Series. Existential practice has always been mindful of the significance of dying. The dying of oneself and the dying of intimate others have been a major focus of existential thinkers, and in our postmodern age, the dying of unknown others and the dying of the planet enter the discussion as well. Existential practice also infuses religious and spiritual orientations, which organize themselves around the suffering of self and other in the face of dying. Existential therapy takes dying seriously and makes facing dying authentically central to its identity as a clinical approach.

To read more, please click on the image to open and download the newsletter (PDF).

Apr 27

Being Thrown, Being Called, Losing and Finding Oneself in the Care of the Suffering Other

Lynn will present the final talk of the series whose very title evokes themes from Heidegger and Levinas but Lynn will lean heavily on the writing of Hans-Georg-Gadamer, the quintessential hermeneutic philosopher. As a psychotherapist specializing in working with death and dying, her talk will explore what it means to be with the suffering other in a caregiving role, and the implications to one’s sense of self and identity. She will explore the identity transformations experienced in her own working with death and dying through the lens of Gadamer and other philosophical traditions that explore modes of being-with and being-with-oneself in the caring relationship.

Why NECET?

To build.

We seek to build a community of healers, teachers, artists, learners and more. We welcome all who wish to learn and share.
To learn.

We are dedicated to intellectual curiosity and developing our craft through the disciplines of psychology and philosophy.
To share.

Through our community, we share what we learn through our conferences and more.