She developed a philosophical therapy based in existential-phenomenology, which was detailed in her many publications, and taught in the organizations she founded.[3]
She was the founder of the Society for Existential Analysis in 1988, initiated the first World Congress for Existential Therapy in 2015, which also led to the founding of the Federation for Existential Therapy in Europe.[4]
She co-founded the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling at Regent’s University in 1991, the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling in 1996, Dilemma Consultancy in 2000 and the Existential Academy in 2010.[5] She was the founder and first president of the worldwide Existential Movement. [6]
She established a philosophical therapy based in existential-phenomenology and her twenty plus books have been translated into more than two dozen languages.
Biography
Van Deurzen was born and raised in The Hague, in The Netherlands. Her parents were Arie van Deurzen and Anna Hensel.[6] Her father was the Director of the Antiques Auction House of the Notaries of The Hague.[5] She has an older sister Ingrid who was a physiotherapist.[7] They were both raised in The Hague, and lived in an apartment near the North Sea, at the south of the city of The Hague. [6]
Van Deurzen completed her classical education at the Dalton Lyceum in The Hague, between 1964 and 1970, completing her Gymnasium Alpha, with final exams in greek, latin, dutch, english, french, german, history and algebra.[8] She was an active member of the school community and published poetry in the school newsletter, took small parts in school plays and sang soprano in the choir, as well as singing songs of her own composition at various school events, with her guitar. [6]
She moved to France to study French and earned a Diplôme Supérieur d'Etudes Françaises, at the University of Montpellier, France.[7] She then went on to study for a licence and a maîtrise in philosophy at the University of Montpellier, where her masters dissertation was supervised by phenomenologist Michel Henry.[9] She wrote her thesis on phenomenology and psychiatry in relation to solitude and solipsism for her philosophy dissertation. [1]
After this she did a second licence, this time in psychology, followed by a master’s degree in clinical psychology at the University of Bordeaux, where she was invited to work as an assistant and tutor in the psychophysiology lab.[7] She did clinical research for her final dissertation with young women who had attempted suicide for her clinical psychology thesis.[5]
Van Deurzen did her PhD on Heidegger's concepts of authenticity and inauthenticity and their relevance to psychotherapy, at City University, London under supervision with Alfons Grieder, from 1990-2000. This was on the theme of self-deception and it led to numerous publications. [10]
Van Deurzen began her career in psychotherapy by doing voluntary work at the Psychiatric Hospital of Montpellier, Font D’Aurelle, in the children’s and outpatient departments, between 1971-1973 together with her first husband, psychiatrist Jean Pierre Fabre.[4] They moved to the psychiatric hospital of Saint Alban, in the Massif Central department of the Lozère where they lived and worked between 1973-1975 in this revolutionary hospital which originated institutional psychotherapy and which was made famous by the work of Dr. François Tosquelles and Frantz Fanon.[6] Van Deurzen had a full time post as psychologist in the social therapy department and worked with large groups, mostly with psychodrama and systems therapy, but also running the weekly large patient group in relation to the hospital newsletter Trait d’Union as well as directing a number of plays. [7]
From 1975-1977 they lived and worked in the Psychotherapeutic Centre La Candelie, in Agen, Lot et Garonne, where they were supervised by Lacanian analyst Dr. François Tosquelles.[3]
In 1977 they were invited to come work in London with Joseph H. Berke and Morton Schatzman and lived and worked in an Arbours Association therapeutic community as well as assisting at the Crisis Centre and being involved with the Philadelphia Association, with R. D. Laing and his colleagues.[11]
During this period Van Deurzen began teaching existential therapy in the Arbours training programme and started developing her own ideas. She also started a lifelong friendship with Hungarian psychiatrist Thomas Stephen Szasz. [12]
From 1978 onwards van Deurzen has lectured on her method of existential therapy in many different contexts and countries.[7] She came to formulate her own version of existential therapy, based in her lifelong objective of uniting philosophy and psychology. [4] She taught for the Arbours Association, and South West London College from the seventies onwards and started teaching at Antioch University, London centre, from 1978.[14] She created the first master’s programme in existential psychotherapy with Antioch University in 1982 and was able to help the Antioch programmes to move to Regent's University London in 1985 and joined the Regent's faculty as Head of the Psychology department, when the program was incorporated into the college.[15] She was appointed Dean of the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling at Regent’s University, after co-founding this with the president of the then Regent’s College, John Payne.[3][5]
Van Deurzen left Regent's University in 1996, to found the New School for Psychotherapy and Counselling in London.[16] This was initially based at the London centre of Schiller International University (SIU), where she was made an honorary professor.[17]
Van Deurzen and Tantam also co-founded the Centre for the Study of Conflict and Reconciliation[18] at the University of Sheffield in 1999 when van Deurzen became an honorary lecturer, then a reader at the University.[19]
In 2005 she became an honorary professor and was involved in numerous European funded research projects in psychotherapy with Digby Tantam and colleagues from around Europe, including Ireland, Poland, Austria, Romania, France, Portugal, Belgium, Italy and Czechia.[9]
Van Deurzen has published 20 books, 70 chapters and well over 100 papers in journals.[20] She published her first chapter on existential therapy in 1984 in Windy Dryden’s Handbook on individual psychotherapy.[21] Her first book on her existential approach to psychotherapy and counselling was published in 1987 with Sage, has known several editions and continues to be a bestseller.[1] The book led directly to her initiative in founding the Society for Existential Analysis (SEA) and its Journal of Existential Analysis. [2]
Structural Existential Analysis and Early Work (1970s–1980s)
Emmy van Deurzen developed her foundational model of structural existential analysis in the 1970s while working in psychiatric hospitals in France.[22] Drawing on the work of Ludwig Binswanger and her own clinical observations, she conceptualized a four-world model of human existence—physical (Umwelt), social (Mitwelt), personal (Eigenwelt), and spiritual (Überwelt).[23]
Existential Counselling and Psychotherapy (1987–1990s)
Van Deurzen’s first major book, Existential Counselling in Practice (1987), later republished in expanded editions, articulated her therapeutic approach in accessible language.[24] She introduced the "emotional compass" to map emotions across the four existential dimensions, linking them to human values. [25]
In 1988, she co-founded the Society for Existential Analysis and became a key figure in professional regulation as the first elected Chair of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).[6] She also represented British therapists in Europe via the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP).[4]
Publications and Thought Leadership (1990s–2000s)
Her second major book, Everyday Mysteries (1996), offered a comprehensive synthesis of existential philosophy and therapy, presenting philosophical and clinical material in pragmatic terms.[26] Her third major work, Paradox and Passion (1998), reflected on emotional tensions and personal experience, including her early struggles with suicidality.[27]
Throughout the 2000s, she published extensively, including the co-authored Dictionary of Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling (2005) and several edited volumes on existential perspectives in supervision, coaching, and relationships. [28]With Martin Adams, she co-authored Skills in Existential Counselling & Psychotherapy (2011), a practical guide for clinicians.[29]
Existential-Phenomenological Research and Structural Methodology (2010s–2020s)
Van Deurzen developed a research method rooted in existential therapy, integrating phenomenological, hermeneutic, heuristic, and narrative elements.[30] Her Structural Existential Analysis (co-authored with Claire Arnold-Baker, 2022) formalized this approach, using five existential lenses—Space, Time, Purpose, Paradox, and Passion—and introduced the Existential Research Dialogue (ERD), a dialogical interview technique.[31]
She served as senior editor of The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy (2019), the most comprehensive text in the field, bringing together leading figures like Irvin Yalom, Alfried Laengle, and Kirk Schneider. [32]
Political Engagement and Activism
Following the 2016 Brexit referendum, van Deurzen became active in defending the rights of EU citizens in the UK.[33] She founded the Voices for Europe initiative and served as Vice Chair of the New Europeans. [34]She organized free counselling services for affected populations and gave public speeches, including at a major protest in Parliament Square.[35]
Recent Works and Public Engagement
In Psychotherapy and the Quest for Happiness (2009), van Deurzen critiqued both psychopathology and naïve positivity, advocating for a nuanced existential perspective.[36] Her more recent book Rising from Existential Crisis (2022) addressed the psychological effects of sociopolitical trauma and immigration.[4]
She also wrote and produced the documentary Bringing Wisdom to the World (2023), promoting the Existential Movement, which aims to infuse public discourse with philosophical insight. [6]In 2022, she signed with Penguin for Beginning to Live: The Art of Existential Freedom, a popularized account of her therapeutic wisdom.[4]
Personal life
Van Deurzen married Jean Pierre Fabre, a French psychiatrist, in 1972 and they remained together till 1978. They had no children.[1]
Van Deurzen married David Livingstone Smith, now an American philosopher and professor at New England University, in 1980, and they had two children, Benjamin Yuri Smith, in 1981 and Sasha Daniella Smith, in 1985. The couple remained together till 1996.[37]
Van Deurzen married Digby John Howard Tantam, a British professor of psychiatry and psychotherapy, in 1998. Digby has two children by his previous wife, Robert Tantam, born 1978 and Grace Tantam, born in 1980.[38]
↑ Kass, Sarah A. (11 March 2013). "Don't Fall Into Those Stereotype Traps". Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 54 (2): 131–157. doi:10.1177/0022167813478836.
↑ Craig, Erik; Daws, Loray; Georgas, Thanasis; Stolorow, Robert D. (2019-05-28), Deurzen, Emmy; Craig, Erik; Längle, Alfried; Schneider, Kirk J. (eds.), "Challenges and New Developments", The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy (1ed.), Wiley, pp.110–126, doi:10.1002/9781119167198.ch6, ISBN978-1-119-16715-0, retrieved 2025-08-19
Taylor, Maye (1995). "Tuning in: An interview with Emmy van Deurzen-Smith". British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. 23 (1): 127–137. doi:10.1080/03069889508258066.
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