Rollo May

Rollo May (1909-1994) first lived in Ohio and then moved to Michigan as a young child with his five brothers and a sister. He remembered his home life as being unhappy, a situation that had something to do with his interest in psychology and counselling. In his personal life May struggled with his own existential concerns and the failure of two marriages.

During his youth, May spent sometime studying ancient Greek civilization, which he believed gave him a persective on human nature. He later traveled to Vienna and studied with Alferd Alder. while he was pursuing his doctoral program, he came down with tuberculosis, which resulted in a 2-year stay in a sanitarium. During his recovery period, May spent much time reading and learning firsthand about the nature of anxiety. The study resulted in his book The Meaning of Anxiety (1950). His popular book Love and Will (1969) reflects hsi own personal struggles with love and intimate relationships and mirrors Western society's questioning of its values pertaining to sex and marriage.

The greatest personal influence on May was the German philosopher Paul Tilich (author of The Courage to Be, 1952), who spent much time with discussing philosophical, religious, and psychological topics. Most of May's writings reflect a concern with the nature of human experiences, such as recognizing and dealing with power, accepting freedom and respinsibility, and discovering one's identity. He draws from his rich knowledge based on the classics and his existential perspective.

May was one of the main proponents of humanistic approaches to psychotherapy, and he was the principal American spokesman of European existential thinking as it is applied to psychotherapy should be aimed at people discover the meaning of their lives and should be concerned with the problems of being rather than with problem solving. Questions of being include learning to deal with issues such as sex and intimacy, growing old, and facing death. According to May, the real challenge is for people to be able to live in a world where they are alone and where they will eventually have to face death. He contends that our individualism should be balanced by what Alder refers to as social interests. Therapists need to help individuals find ways to contribute to the betterment of the society were grounded on these higher values, therapists might well be our of business.