Sartre and Meaning-Making Existentialists.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was a prolific writer, attributed with the roles of political activist, literary critic, playwright, biographer, and philosopher, among others. In wearing his many hats, the theorist had several occasions to philosophize on the nature of culture; Sartre is famously quoted as having said, “"culture was always conceived as a process of continual invention and re-invention." Sartre has become a founding voice in the pedagogy of cultural psychology touting the definitive and constant reality of change.
While ever-submerged in the nihilism of existential philosophy, Sartre’s career is highlighted by his contributions to the field of psychoanalysis with his text, Being and Nothingness (1943). In this now-seminal handbook to the field of Applied Existential Psychotherapy (AEP), Sartre’s work has been pointed at the body as a locus of liberation. The equation is simple enough: that the body -- which is a physical receptacle holding both general experiences and trauma -- combined with emotions -- or the reaction to the experiences -- together construct the two foundations of meaning-making for human beings.
Body + Emotion = Meaning
The Boulder Psychotherapy Institute (BPI) Training Modules on AEP assist body-centered therapists in resourcing their clients to sequence their “stuck” trauma out through an expression of sensation, or feeling. BPI suggests therapists address these three healing levels of meaning-making with their client in facing unprocessed material:
The body: What action needs to be completed?
Emotions: Allowing expression and restoring interpersonal connection
Meaning: Restoring the ability to act, create, and play in an “unsafe” world.
This, the basis of Sartre’s contribution to theoretical somatics, grew in relevance and acceptance throughout the 20th century. It is powerful, compelling work like this that set the stage -- and the demand -- for its science to be tested (and proven -- See "Levine, Siegel, and the Chemistry of Encounter").