Emmy van Deurzen is a philosopher, a therapist and a pioneer who has spent five decades mapping the architecture of human existence. Born in the Netherlands and trained in the radical psychiatric wards of France, she came to London in 1977 to work alongside R.D. Laing, only to realize the anti-psychiatry movement had kind of lost its way. She decided to build something new. Today, she's the founder of the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling and the leading voice of existential therapy in the United Kingdom and founded the Existential Movement.
Her work challenges the medical model of mental illness, suggesting instead that our crises are not diseases to be cured but philosophical crossroads to be understood. Her latest book is a distillation of that life's work. Beginning To Live: The Art of Existential Freedom is her first book written for a general audience, offering a guide on how to reclaim our freedom and find meaning in the face of suffering. Emmy van Deurzen, welcome to The Creative Process.
(0:00) The Paths to Freedom
(2:03) Emmy Van Deurzen, Philosopher, Existential Therapist, Author
(3:13) AI and Artificial Wisdom
(5:03) Practicing Freedom
(7:00) Finding Inner Peace Amidst the Ruins
(8:39) The Yellow Balloon
(11:17) Multilingual Roots, Language and Translation
(13:31) The End of One Love, The Beginning of a Love of the Arts
(16:11) The Art of Loving
(17:30) The Canvas of Life
(20:20) The Purified Essence
(27:46) The AI Dependency
(30:09) Radical Psychiatry, R.D. Laing and The Divided Self
(33:48) Awakening to Beauty
(37:18) The Art of Living and Existential Freedom
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