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November 2025 Train & Gain " Addressing Client and Therapist Existential Isolation and Self-Care During the Holidays"
The holiday season can intensify various emotions, including positive and negative emotions. In addition, the holidays increase stress and can intensify engagement with existential issues, including existential isolation and loneliness. In this workshop, we begin by describing existential isolation and distinguish it from related constructs. Yalom (1980) describes existential isolation as “an unbridgeable gulf between oneself and any other being. It refers, too, to an isolation even more fundamental—a separation between the individual and the world” (p. 355). There are various factors that contribute to the experience of existential isolation, including awareness of other existential issues and feelings of being different or not understood. Especially during the holidays, existential isolation can impact therapists as well as clients, making it important for therapists to recognize and address their own feelings of isolation in order to be able to assist clients with their relational struggles. Due to relational challenges, including existential isolation and loneliness, that one experiences during the holidays, self-care becomes more vital for both clients and therapists. The second half of the presentation builds from the discussion of existential isolation to address self-care strategies that can be employed to help address holiday stress. This includes practical strategies for therapists and for clients.
Joseph Alexander Vanderhoff is a dedicated clinical psychotherapist with a passion for existential-humanism, psychoanalysis, neuropsychology, ecopsychology, and group psychotherapy. He is a member of the planning committee for the Fourth World Congress of Existential Therapy, sits on the grant writing committee for the Rocky Mountain Humanistic and Psychological Association, and sees clients at the Center for Humanistic & Interpersonal Psychotherapy, as well as his private practice, Colorado Men’s Therapy. Vanderhoff holds a Master of Arts from the University of Denver in Counseling Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in Philosophy and Religious Studies. He recently coauthored The Evidence-Based Foundations of Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy (APA Books, 2025) and is currently working on several other publications.
Learning Objectives:
1. Define existential isolation and distinguish it from other types of isolation
2. Identify 2 strategies for working with existential isolation during the holiday season for clients and/or therapists.
3. Identify 2 self-care strategies for holiday stress for clients and/or therapists
The holiday season can intensify various emotions, including positive and negative emotions. In addition, the holidays increase stress and can intensify engagement with existential issues, including existential isolation and loneliness. In this workshop, we begin by describing existential isolation and distinguish it from related constructs. Yalom (1980) describes existential isolation as “an unbridgeable gulf between oneself and any other being. It refers, too, to an isolation even more fundamental—a separation between the individual and the world” (p. 355). There are various factors that contribute to the experience of existential isolation, including awareness of other existential issues and feelings of being different or not understood. Especially during the holidays, existential isolation can impact therapists as well as clients, making it important for therapists to recognize and address their own feelings of isolation in order to be able to assist clients with their relational struggles. Due to relational challenges, including existential isolation and loneliness, that one experiences during the holidays, self-care becomes more vital for both clients and therapists. The second half of the presentation builds from the discussion of existential isolation to address self-care strategies that can be employed to help address holiday stress. This includes practical strategies for therapists and for clients.
Joseph Alexander Vanderhoff is a dedicated clinical psychotherapist with a passion for existential-humanism, psychoanalysis, neuropsychology, ecopsychology, and group psychotherapy. He is a member of the planning committee for the Fourth World Congress of Existential Therapy, sits on the grant writing committee for the Rocky Mountain Humanistic and Psychological Association, and sees clients at the Center for Humanistic & Interpersonal Psychotherapy, as well as his private practice, Colorado Men’s Therapy. Vanderhoff holds a Master of Arts from the University of Denver in Counseling Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in Philosophy and Religious Studies. He recently coauthored The Evidence-Based Foundations of Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy (APA Books, 2025) and is currently working on several other publications.
Learning Objectives:
1. Define existential isolation and distinguish it from other types of isolation
2. Identify 2 strategies for working with existential isolation during the holiday season for clients and/or therapists.
3. Identify 2 self-care strategies for holiday stress for clients and/or therapists