Shame and Boredom

Existential Group Therapy with Socially Isolated Residents in a Care Home

Abstract

Life’s finitude is a central theme in existential psychology, and this theme is
often addressed in terms of death and the question of how we relate to our
own mortality. This article explores another – and strikingly overlooked –
existential aspect of the finitude of life, namely old age. It presents a practical
example of existential group therapy with elderly care home residents
and discusses the therapeutic process in the light of Simone de Beauvoir’s
existential analysis of old age.