Existential questions about what it means to be human are universal. Yet, there is still much room for non-Western existential therapies to be developed and for non-Western existential therapists to articulate constructs that reflect culturally rooted processes, values, and dimensions of experience that relate to and reflect the existential attitude. To this end, we present three Sikolohiyang Pilipino constructs, namely pagpapakatao (the endeavor of becoming human), pagdududa (the experiencing of doubt), and ginhawa (the felt embodied experience of wholeness and wellness), that capture key existential assumptions we have found to be particularly relevant in the healing of our Filipino clients. We take these to be central to our formulation of a Filipino existential psychotherapy insofar as we have observed them to be essential tasks that Filipino clients undergo when they seek professional help. We elucidate why we believe existential psychotherapy provides the space where Filipino clients can safely and meaningfully go through these processes with intention and direction. We also discuss how these constructs can deepen the clinical training and supervision of Filipino therapists. Through this, we hope to contribute to the burgeoning movement of culturally informed existential psychotherapy that adheres to the universality and cross-cultural relevance of existential inquiry.
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