Existential therapy

Existential therapy is a form of psychotherapy focused on the client’s lived experience of their subjective reality. The aim is for clients to use their freedom to live authentic fulfilled lives.

Existentialist traditions maintain:

  • People are fundamentally free to shape their lives and are responsible for their choices, even under difficult circumstances.
  • Distress around existential concerns—such as death, isolation, freedom, and the search for meaning—are not pathological, but natural parts of the human condition and potential catalysts for living more authentically.
  • An emphasis on exploring the client’s subjective world and lived experience, rather than providing an authoritative interpretation of what feelings mean.
  • A de-emphasis on standardized techniques, favoring instead a collaborative, dialogical encounter grounded in authentic presence, openness, and mutual exploration of the client's world.
  • A critique of reductionist models of mental health that attempt to explain psychological suffering solely in terms of symptoms, diagnoses, or biological causes.
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