Applied Existential Psychotherapy
Applied Existential Psychotherapy (AEP) was founded by Betty Cannon over 23 years ago as an experiential psychodynamic approach which uses the present moment as a jumping off point to explore areas in the client's life. AEP is used to help clients process many difficulties that limit the individual's potential for true happiness. Often these difficulties take the form of family of origin issues, romantic relationship difficulties, work problems, low self-esteem, and depression/anxiety. An AEP session often begins with exploring the clients current issue through talking and teasing apart the fundamental elements. Next the client and therapist agree on an experiment to bring the conflict or issue into the present moment. Followed by deepening into the current predicament to uncover any unmet need or to discover what the client truly wants, yet may have been unaware of. The final step is integration of awareness or insight, gained through the working, into the clients daily life.
AEP is a modality that draws upon the vast history and knowledge gained through the history of psychotherapy. Betty Cannon was influenced by Viktor Frankl, Carl Rogers, Hazel E. Barnes, and Peter Levine among others. This multi-faceted modality is a great addition to the history of psychotherapy and will continue to touch the lives of many to come.
Check out this video from Betty Cannon, founder of Applied Existential Psychotherapy
Betty Cannon, Ph.D., is the president of the Boulder Psychotherapy Institute. BPI trains therapists in Applied Existential Psychotherapy (AEP). AEP interlaces the insights of contemporary existential and psychodynamic approaches with techniques inspired by Gestalt and other experiential therapies. Betty is its founder and has published many chapters, articles, and an internationally recognized book on existential therapy.
Betty has trained therapists and worked with individuals, couples and groups in Boulder for over 30 years. She is an internationally known author, lecturer and workshop presenter. Her book, Sartre and Psychoanalysis, is considered a classic in existential psychology. A chapter on "Applied Existential Psychotherapy (AEP): An Experiential Psychodynamic Approach" appears in a new book, Existential Therapy: Legacy, Vibrancy and Dialogue, edited by Laura Barnett and Greg Madison (Routledge, 2011). The book contains chapters by most well-known European and American existential psychologists.
Betty is a licensed psychologist and certified Gestalt therapist. She holds doctorates in both literature and psychology. She has also trained extensively in trauma work, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and group work. Betty is enthusiastic about groups and offers many training, practice, process, supervision, and video-review groups. Her Monday night therapy group has occasional openings.
Betty is a member of the editorial boards of three professional journals: Sartre Studies International, Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, and Existential Analysis. She is professor emerita of the Colorado School of Mines, where she taught literature and psychology for twenty years. She is adjunct professor in the Graduate Program in Psychology at Naropa University and adjunct professor at Regis University. She is a former president of the Colorado Group Psychotherapy Society and former chair of the North American Sartre Society.
Betty offers trainings for mental health professionals in AEP individual, couples, group, body-oriented, and trauma work at the Boulder Psychotherapy Institute. Her long experience in the field has not diminished her passion for her work. She feels privileged to have shared so deeply with so many people over the years. Her life has been enriched by the courageous work of her clients and students.