Existential therapy does not seek to “fix” people. Instead, it helps individuals relate differently to their experiences—developing clarity, agency, and a deeper sense of meaning.

Søren Kierkegaard: Anxiety and the Self

Søren Kierkegaard is often considered the first existential philosopher. He described anxiety not as a pathology, but as a natural response to freedom and possibility.

Kierkegaard’s work emphasized:

• The tension between choice and responsibility
• The development of the self
• The emotional cost of avoiding authenticity

Why this matters in therapy: Anxiety is often a signal that something meaningful is at stake. Existential therapy helps us listen to it rather than eliminate it.

Friedrich Nietzsche: Values, Meaning, and Becoming

Friedrich Nietzsche explored how individuals create meaning in a world without inherent guarantees. He challenged externally imposed values and emphasized self-creation, courage, and responsibility.

His ideas inform existential therapy’s focus on:

• Personal values
• Authentic choice
• Living deliberately rather than reactively

Why this matters: Psychological distress often emerges when people feel disconnected from their values or trapped in lives shaped by expectation rather than choice.

Martin Heidegger: Being-in-the-World

Martin Heidegger shifted existential thought toward lived experience. He emphasized that humans are not detached observers of life, but are always embedded in relationships, culture, and time.

Key contributions include:

• “Being-in-the-world”
• Authenticity vs. inauthenticity
• Temporality and finitude

Why this matters: Therapy is not about abstract insight alone—it’s about how you experience your life, relationships, and sense of self here and now.

Jean Paul Sartre: Freedom and Responsibility

Jean-Paul Sartre famously argued that humans are “condemned to be free.” With freedom comes responsibility, and with responsibility often comes anxiety, guilt, or avoidance.

Existential psychotherapy draws on Sartre’s ideas to explore:

• Patterns of avoidance
• Self-deception
• The tension between freedom and fear

Why this matters: Many people feel stuck not because they lack options, but because choice feels overwhelming.

Victor Frankl: Meaning in Suffering

Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, developed logotherapy, an existential approach centered on meaning. He observed that humans can endure immense suffering when they perceive meaning in their experience.

Frankl emphasized:

• Meaning as a central human motivation
• Attitude toward unavoidable suffering
• Purpose beyond circumstances

Why this matters: Existential therapy does not promise a pain-free life—but it helps people find meaning even in difficulty.

Irvin Yalom: Existential Psychotherapy in Practice

Irvin Yalom translated existential philosophy into modern psychotherapy. He identified four core existential concerns:

• Death
• Freedom
• Isolation
• Meaninglessness

Yalom emphasized the therapeutic relationship as a real, human encounter rather than a detached clinical process.

Why this matters: Existential therapy is relational, present-focused, and deeply human.

Existential Psychotherapy Today

Contemporary existential psychotherapy is:

• Relational and collaborative
• Non-pathologizing
• Integrative with psychodynamic and attachment-based approaches
• Focused on lived experience rather than diagnosis alone

In my work as a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) in British Columbia, I use existential psychotherapy to support people navigating:

• Anxiety and uncertainty
• Life transitions and identity questions
• Depression and loss of meaning
• Existential or philosophical concerns
• Career, relationship, or life direction struggles