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- Their clinical concerns may include existential moods, detailed questions, or crises about life, meaning, identity or spirituality. Existential therapists may help via several evidence-based competencies: phenomenological and experiential skills, relational skills, explicating existential themes and processes, school-specific and meta-competences.
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Rogers believed that each of us lives in a constantly changing private world, which he called the experiential field. Everyone exists at the center of their own experiential field, and that field can only be fully understood from the perspective of the individual. This concept has a number of important implications.
- Chris Allen
- 2020
- Overview
- What is existential intelligence?
- Characteristics of Existential Intelligence
- Cultivating Existential Intelligence
- Best Careers for Existentially Intelligent People
Intelligence is multifaceted, and you’ve likely heard of terms like IQ (intelligence quotient), emotional intelligence, or street smarts before. But what is existential intelligence? Existential intelligence (EI) is one of the nine types of intelligence in the Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory and describes the ability to think about deep questions about human existence. In this article, we’ll break down existential intelligence and the characteristics of people who have it, plus share how you can cultivate your EI and what careers suit those with it.
Existential intelligence (EI) is the capacity to ponder deep questions about human existence, like the origin of life or what happens after death.
People with high EI see the world from a philosophical perspective and enjoy helping others, self-care, and promoting positive values like love and truth.
Existentially intelligent people gravitate to careers that require sensitivity and deep thought, like psychology and therapy, teaching, or church leadership.
Existential intelligence is the capacity to ponder deep questions about human existence.
This type of intelligence is difficult to quantify and involves introspective concepts like reflective or deep thinking and the ability to design or dissect abstract theories. If you frequently think about ideas and concepts like the meaning of life, why we die, or how the universe or humanity came into existence, you may have high existential intelligence (EI).
Existential intelligence is sometimes called spiritual intelligence since it relates to questions about existence, life, death, and the beyond.
EI is one type of intelligence in the Multiple Intelligences theory.
The Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory describes 9 types of intelligence that sum up humans' natural inclinations for learning and engaging with the world.
The theory was proposed by Harvard professor Howard Gardner, Ph.D. in 1983 to understand how children learn and explore different ways of presenting educational materials. The exact number of intelligences has changed over the years (the initial theory only had 6 types and did not include EI), and it’s possible new types will be added in the future. Currently, the other 8 intelligences are:
Existentially intelligent people enjoy contemplating deep issues or ideas like origin of life, the meaning of death, or the purpose of humans on Earth.
They use their high level development in abstract and deep reasoning to ponder these questions and find answers to the question, “why?”
On the other hand, people with EI are often disinterested in normalized social practices, leisure activities, and consumerism or material possessions.
For example, both adults and children with high existential intelligence may enjoy journaling about their deep thoughts or communicating with others about intangible ideas like love, good and evil, or human nature.
Children with high existential intelligence may ask questions like, “where do you go when you die,” “where do babies come from,” “why are there numbers,” or even “why do i have to go to school?”
Ability to observe the self and the world from a deep perspective
Practice deep contemplation or meditation.
helps you access a deeper knowledge of yourself, your feelings, and your relationships with others.
about your innermost thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment or perfection to get your observations on paper and analyze them. Or, get comfortable in a quiet space, close your eyes and meditate—let your thoughts drift in and out without forcing them and see what deep realizations you come to.
Make a habit of performing contemplative practices daily (or at least a few times a week) to attune yourself to your deepest thoughts and feelings.
To exercise EI in children, ask them “big picture questions” in simple words like “why are we here” or “what does life mean?” Have them write about their ideas to share or have them answer the questions out loud.
Engage in healthy self-care habits.
Those with EI are suited for jobs that require sensitivity or deep thought.
“Profound contemplation” might not show up in a lot of job descriptions, but there are a number of careers that require people to
and sensitivity while exploring questions about human existence, the meaning of life, why people die, or how humanity got here. These jobs include things like the following and more:
This article was reviewed by
and by wikiHow staff writer,
Dr. Allison Broennimann is a licensed Clinical Psychologist with a private practice based in the San Francisco Bay Area providing psychotherapy and neuropsychology services. With over a decade of experience, Dr. Broennimann specializes in in-depth psychotherapy to provide solution-focused treatments for anxiety, depression, relationship problems, grief, adjustment problems, traumatic stress, and phase-of-life transitions. And as part of her neuropsychology practice, she integrates depth psychotherapy and cognitive rehabilitation for those recovering after traumatic brain injury. Dr. Broennimann holds a BA in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MS and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Palo Alto University. She is licensed by the California Board of Psychology and is a member of the American Psychological Association. This article has been viewed 13,582 times.
Nov 17, 2023 · Or to put it in existential terms that expand on interpersonal attachment theory: Can the child develop ontological security, a sense of “at-homeness” in its own being, as Laing would say, as ...
Oct 25, 2018 · Introduction. Existential psychology developed in an attempt to understand how people cope with the realities of existence. This includes how individuals think about themselves (e.g., self-awareness), how they relate to others, how they create a meaningful and satisfying life, and how they manage anxieties associated with the inevitability of ...
Intelligence types. What is existential intelligence. Existential intelligence is also called spiritual or transcendental intelligence and refers to the facet of the human being that leads him to delve into existential aspects like who we are, what is the purpose of life, what happens after death, etc.
Jan 1, 2020 · Introduction. Existential psychology focuses on core aspects of human existence, such as death, isolation, and meaninglessness. Existential psychologists aim to reconstruct the inner world of human experience while exploring the more abstract issues associated with humanity’s place in the universe.
May 22, 2018 · Existential philosophers, therapists, and clients are meaning makers. Summary Existential psychotherapy (or counseling) is grounded in existential philosophy; it focuses on self-awareness, facing the unavoidable conditions of human existence, and authentic living. Ex...
