집단따돌림을 겪는 청소년의 철학상담 사례연구 - 키에르케고어의 '절망' 개념을 중심으로 -

초록

This study aims to examine the structure of existential despair and the process of recovering selfhood through a philosophical counseling case involving an adolescent client who experienced group bullying. Bullying during adolescence functions not merely as an interpersonal conflict or emotional wound, but as an existential crisis that damages the meaning of one’s existence and one’s relationship with the self. Drawing upon Søren Kierkegaard’s concept of “despair” as its theoretical foundation, this study analyzes the loss of selfhood and the distorted self-relation experienced by adolescents subjected to group bullying. In particular, the study interprets the client’s existential condition through Kierkegaard’s categories of “despair of not wanting to be oneself” and “despair of wanting to be oneself.” As a research method, this study qualitatively analyzes eleven sessions of philosophical counseling conducted with an adolescent client who experienced group bullying by applying a four-stage philosophical counseling model grounded in existential philosophy: encounter, awakening, transcendence, and meaning. Throughout the counseling process, the client gradually moved away from an inauthentic self shaped by the gaze and judgments of others, confronted her own existential desires and emotions, and experienced the recovery of self-understanding and self-trust. In particular, existential awakening through authentic encounter, the reconstruction of a rigid worldview, and reflection on shame and guilt enabled the client to transform despair from mere suffering into an opportunity for becoming oneself. This study demonstrates that philosophical counseling can serve as an existential space of care that does not reduce the suffering of bullied adolescents to pathological symptoms, but instead helps them reflect upon the meaning of their existence and life. Furthermore, the study suggests that philosophical counseling possesses practical therapeutic potential insofar as it supports adolescent clients in recovering the courage to choose to become themselves even amidst despair.

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