I disagree with the theologians who make that claim. At the beginning of any psychotherapy process we always talk about the only things we can change: ourselves, and our situation. We can't change the existential limitations of finitude, so we must change our attitudes, a process at which psychotherapy is every bit as good as theology. And especially so if the therapist is one with a Christian perspective. I've found it helpful to discuss with clients the wonderful ideas on anxiety in Paul Tillich's The Courage to Be ... which I like especially because it discusses "the courage to accept acceptance," which is a definite challenge to Christians, to let go and rest in God's grace. And I like the extended discussion of existential anxiety, in relation to Kierkegaard, in Frank Lake's monumental Clinical Theology. In the end both psychotherapy and pastoral care can bring us to acceptance of our limitations and  the infiniteness of God's grace. And as Stephen Cheung suggests, there is a huge literature on existential psychology and psychotherapy, with a variety of approaches to the problem of existential anxiety.

No, psychotherapy can't remove ontological anxiety because it can't change death, a reality of human existence; however, it can help one to be aware of one's death anxiety and cope with and accept it better (Yalom, 1980).

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Hl0tdKcWcDYC&oi=fnd&pg=PA265&dq=yalom+existential+psychotherapy&ots=b1pD5IyTD-&sig=G1wKaQY_I42gxgMv8QekKNz2mds#v=onepage&q=yalom%20existential%20psychotherapy&f=false

https://books.google.com/books/about/Existential_Psychotherapy.html?id=mI17Zb6ixagC

I disagree with the theologians who make that claim. At the beginning of any psychotherapy process we always talk about the only things we can change: ourselves, and our situation. We can't change the existential limitations of finitude, so we must change our attitudes, a process at which psychotherapy is every bit as good as theology. And especially so if the therapist is one with a Christian perspective. I've found it helpful to discuss with clients the wonderful ideas on anxiety in Paul Tillich's The Courage to Be ... which I like especially because it discusses "the courage to accept acceptance," which is a definite challenge to Christians, to let go and rest in God's grace. And I like the extended discussion of existential anxiety, in relation to Kierkegaard, in Frank Lake's monumental Clinical Theology. In the end both psychotherapy and pastoral care can bring us to acceptance of our limitations and  the infiniteness of God's grace. And as Stephen Cheung suggests, there is a huge literature on existential psychology and psychotherapy, with a variety of approaches to the problem of existential anxiety.

Thank you, Stephen and Hendrika, for your insights! Henrika, I'm a big fan of Tillich as well.

Psychotherapy can help us understand our ontological anxiety but removing it is very ambitious, I would say. I believe that Freud said, in his famous work on "Disconform in culture", exposed the "existential emptiness" as something specific to the human being. Undoubtedly, going deeper into the causes of ontological anxiety will give us a different view of the world, but removing it is a task that must be addressed by the individual through the meaning it gives to transcendence.

No, never. Some morning spots in free fresh air followed by swimming and excellent public relations with honest friends plus healthy eating system filled with fruit and vegetables is sufficient for (curing) such case.

Emad

No clue Prof !!!! May be I can't .

I teach teenagers but never ever have I volunteered for being a mentor !!!!!!

No, psychotherapy can not change the ontological anguish (perception of finitude), but it can change a large part of the personality, as long as the analyzed individual cooperates and wants to change.

Normal and Neurotic Anxiety

Existential therapists define anxiety more broadly than other psychotherapeutic groups. Anxiety arises from our personal need to survive, to preserve our being, and to assert our being. Anxiety shows itself physically in faster beating of the heart, rising blood pressure, preparation of the skeletal muscles for fighting or fleeing, and a sense of apprehension. Rollo May defines anxiety as “the threat to our existence or to values we identify with our existence” (1977, p. 205).

Anxiety is more basic than fear. In psychotherapy, one of our aims is to help the patient confront anxiety as fully as possible, thus reducing anxiety to fears, which are then objective and can be dealt with. But the main therapeutic function is to help the patient confront the normal anxiety that is an unavoidable part of the human condition.

Normal anxiety has three characteristics. First, it is proportionate to the situation confronted. Second, normal anxiety does not require repression: We can come to terms with it, as we come to terms with the fact that we all face eventual death. Third, such anxiety can be used creatively, as a stimulus to help identify and confront the dilemma out of which the anxiety arose.

Neurotic anxiety, on the other hand, is not appropriate to the situation. For example, parents may be so anxious that their child will be hit by a car that they never let the child leave the house. Second, it is repressed, in the way most of us repress the fear of nuclear war. Third, neurotic anxiety is destructive, not constructive. Neurotic anxiety tends to paralyze the individual rather than stimulate creativity.

The function of therapy is not to do away with all anxiety. No person could survive completely without anxiety. Mental health is living as much as possible without neurotic anxiety, but with the ability to tolerate the unavoidable existential anxiety of living.

I think relatively

I think that Drs Cheung, Vande Kamp and Ramasamy have each made some good points. Kellerman defines ontological anxiety as "an anxiety or tension generated because the sense of one’s ultimate survival possibility is instantly translated by the thinking brain into one’s ultimate survival impossibility" (H. Kellerman, The Discovery of God: A Psychoevolutionary Perspective, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-4364-3_2). This ultimate awareness of finitude is rooted in our self-awareness. of our "being-ness" and the reality that a time will come when our corporeal existence will end. Prof Vande Kamp has highlighted that psychotherapy invites people to accept their limitations and to accept God's grace. Herein is the challenge, if a person's worldview lacks a spiritual or noumenal dimension then all that psychotherapy can do is invite people to accept their limitations. While some who view themselves as non-theists are able to do this, others find the prospect of accepting their limitations very difficult as this removes a hopeful meaning to their existence. Thus Dr. Vande Kamp's reference to the grace of God introduces a metaphysical aspect to both the question (i.e., theological) as well as what it may mean to "die well." Namely, that the act of dying well includes both acceptance and a meaning construct that enables a person to experience a sense of hope - either that the life they have lied has been worthwhile and/or that there is some further existence after death which they can look forward to.