Episode Details

Our guest for this week is Tony Johannsen, an existential psychotherapist, coach, facilitator, artist, and behavior-change specialist.

Today’s episode is a two-parter! The first part had been recorded live at an event called ‘Get Hacked, Get Hi’ and the other is our followup Zoom conversation. Almost two hours of in-depth conversation about existential philosophy and how to apply it to personal growth. YEW!

About Tony

Tony Johannsen is a certified psychotherapist who uses an approach based on existential philosophy in order to help people build richer and more rewarding lives. He draws on a vast base knowledge from disciplines such as neurology, philosophy, psychotherapy and combines them with flow states to inspire positive changes in the behavior of his clients. Tony predominantly works with the criminal justice system and he is an expert on the topic of substance and alcohol abuse and addictions.

His understanding of anxiety is both fascinating and unique because as he believes it should be considered a guiding tool rather than a symptom that has to be treated. In these 90 minutes of in-depth conversation, we explore some of the most burning questions related to our existence and the human experience.

Tony usually keeps a low profile and doesn’t do much work in the private sector. But he is preparing a series of workshops for 2020 and it sounds like an amazing idea! If you enjoy his approach and message, make sure to check out his website or follow him on social media for updates! 

Connect with Tony:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tony.johannsen.7
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWMRqQQXgoysLRszegXzMTQ?
• Website: https://www.tonyjohannsen.com/

In This Episode We Canvas:

• The Difference Between Sympathy and Empathy

Tony never shied away from talking about death. At the young age of 15, he had his first direct experience of mortality when his brother tragically died in a car accident. He reminisces about how he was bothered by the fact he felt people were offering sympathy and pitty. Today, Tony makes a key distinction and a conscious decision to refrain from sympathy and turn to empathy.  

“As a psychotherapist, I specialize in empathy. Sympathy is not my bag, I don’t feel sorry for anyone. But I can definitely empathize with whatever the state you’re in and whatever you’re experiencing at this point in time.” - Tony Johannsen

• The 4 Key Existential Givens

Tony provides us with an overview of existential philosophy and it’s founding postulates. The four fundamental existential givens are:

1- Death

“We’re the only creature where it seems to be an issue. A large part of it is because it’s a boundaried existence - we know it’s finite.” - Tony Johannsen

2 - Meaninglessness

“Point two… I mean there’s no hierarchy and order. So we’ll go with meaninglessness… The existential position is there’s no essence for what it means to be human.” - Tony Johannsen

3 - Isolation

“There’s always like a gap in communication between humans. And that gap from an existential standpoint is what they call isolation.” - Tony Johannsen

4 - Meeting of Freedom and Responsibility

“Number four is a meeting of two concepts which is freedom and responsibility, which ties in with possibi