Who are the two originators of existential therapy?

• A. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
• B. Viktor Frankl and Rollo May
• C. Alfred Adler and Fritz Perls
• D. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

Answer: (B)

Existential therapy focuses on human existence, freedom, responsibility, and the search for meaning in the face of life’s givens. The two thinkers most closely associated with originating this approach are Viktor Frankl and Rollo May. Frankl’s logotherapy centers on meaning as the primary motivational force; therapy helps people uncover purpose and choose attitudes even in suffering. May, bridging philosophy and psychology, emphasizes anxiety as a natural part of exercising freedom, the importance of authenticity, and the responsibility to shape one’s own life. Their work laid the groundwork for existential therapy and its distinctive focus on meaning, choice, and living with awareness of mortality. The other figures come from different therapeutic traditions: Freud and Jung through psychoanalysis, Adler and Perls through other humanistic or existential-adjacent paths, and Rogers and Maslow through humanistic psychology that emphasizes growth rather than existential concerns.