Existential therapy is a humanistic therapy centred on the philosophy of existentialism, with a focus on ideas of free will, self-determination, and responsibility.

Existential therapy advocates the idea that life has no solid meaning, thus it is up to the individual to define their existence and be responsible for their own happiness and actions.

This type of therapy hopes to directly confront the conflict which arises about the question of meaning or purpose, through exploring personal values, hopes and contradictions of what it is to be human. 

Psychotherapist Sally O'Sullivan explains existential therapy

Existential therapy has four key themes: death, meaning, isolation and freedom. These are huge topics that often cause great anxiety, even subconsciously. Existential therapy is a place to confront anxieties about these universal human themes.

The existential approach emphasises that:

• All people have the capacity for self-awareness

• Each person has a unique identity that can be known only through relationships with others

• People must continually re-create themselves because life’s meaning constantly changes

• Anxiety is part of the human condition

Existential therapy is slightly unusual in that it does not place as much emphasis on past events like some other therapy types. Existential therapists do take the past into consideration, but do not necessarily interpret or conclude that the responsibility for present unease lies in the past. They use the insights from the past in order to work within the present and future, where the client is encouraged to view their own actions without thinking about destiny or fate.

By accepting that existence is coincidental, the client may live in the present moment and overcome their anxieties, viewing life as a series of moments in which they are fundamentally free to make their own decisions.

Existential therapists emphasise description over interpretation and will encourage you to voice your own views through creating a non-judgemental atmosphere. Existential therapy may in some ways be more challenging than other forms of therapy, in order to help raise awareness of your own contradictions and assumptions.

The roots of existential therapy lie with the work of existential thinkers and philosophers, notably Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, and later Sartre, Camus, and Heidegger.