Simon Lea BA, Mphil, Dip. Psyth MSFTR

My interest in existentialism began at university. As part of my philosophy degree I read Sartre, Heidegger and Nietzsche. However the two philosophers that really grabbed my attention were Soren Kierkegaard and Albert Camus. Although their philosophies differed, they were all concerned with living their lives authentically. The core themes running through their work: freedom, anxiety and meaning.

After my first degree, I continued to be fascinated by existentialist ideas and researched the philosophical contribution of Albert Camus for my Masters degree. I am currently the president of the Albert Camus Society and continue my academic research on behalf of the Society, liaising with universities and individuals in the UK and around the world.

Existentialist philosophy is a philosophy to be lived. Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism, was a brilliant philosophical psychologist. His work, especially his work on anxiety, was and still is a major inspiration for existentially orientated psychotherapists. The more I read Kierkegaard and Camus, the greater my interest in applied philosophy became. Both thinkers were concerned with creating a philosophy of life, in helping us understand what it is to exist, to be alive, to have meaning and ultimately to be happy.

After finishing my Mphil, I became more interested in applying existentialist philosophy and gained my Diploma in Psychotherapy. For my thesis I compared Existential Analysis with Psychoanalysis. My specialist interest in psychotherapy is anxiety and the experience of fear. It is my belief that before we can treat anxiety we need to treat fear and that hypnotherapy is the fastest, most effective, technique in eliminating unnecessary fear. Accordingly, I took a course in hypnotherapy and continue to research the therapeutic application of hypnosis.

In sessions I use a variety of techniques to help clients understand their existence, give their lives meaning and overcome fear. Depending on client needs, the two main techniques I use are hypnosis and spiritual therapy. Spiritual therapy involves using ancient therapeutic methods of finding answers to existential / spiritual questions and self-awareness. These methods include the Tarot, Astrology and Numerology. I don't expect clients to sit back and have their fortunes read or indulge in the mystical. Rather, clients are asked to compare how others see them with how they see themselves. It is not necessary to the therapy to believe these systems create accurate personality profiles. Simply having a psychological portrait to analyse can be enormously beneficial. As a client the emphasis is on your analysis of you and not 'what your cards say'.

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Clients I have treated have ranged from people with phobias (such as a fear of flying or heights) and social anxieties, (such as a fear of public speaking or feelings of inadequacy) to people suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most recently I have been involved with helping students overcome exam stress as well as foreign language students gaining confidence in speaking advanced English.