AUTHENTICITY

1. the quality of being genuine and true to one's own values2. in psychotherapy and counseling, a valued characteristic of the therapist, who must be considered to be genuine and caring. Authenticity is often demonstrated by a professional but down-to-earth attitude that the client senses a true person and not simply of the therapist acting in his or her professional role. 3. in existentialism, a mode of being that humans can adopt by accepting the burden of freedom, choice, and responsibility and the need to construct their own values and meanings in a largely meaningless universe.