Existential Therapy: What it is (and why it’s not as heavy as it sounds)
Most people hear the word “existential” and think of doom and gloom or a nothing really matters outlook.
But in reality existential therapy is a grounded, human, useful form of therapy, and far more relevant to everyday life than its name suggests.
So what is existential therapy?
At its core, existential therapy is a talking-based approach that helps people explore the bigger themes running underneath their daily struggles: identity, freedom, meaning, authenticity, and how we relate to others. It isn’t about diagnosing symptoms or working through a structured programme. It’s about helping someone understand themselves more honestly, and make more deliberate choices about how they live.
Existential therapy tends to resonate particularly well with people who feel stuck or disconnected, not because something is clinically “wrong,” but because something feels off in a way that’s hard to name.
Where does it come from?
The two biggest names in existential therapy are Viktor Frankl and Irvin Yalom. Frankl, a psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, developed logotherapy around the idea that meaning can be found even in the most difficult circumstances.
Yalom took a warmer, more narrative approach, identifying four core human struggles: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. Both believed that confronting these realities honestly, rather than avoiding them, is what allows people to live more fully.
What does it actually look like in a session?
Existential therapy sessions tend to feel more like a conversation than a clinical process. A therapist might explore questions like:
- What matters to you (not what you think should matter)?
- Where do you feel like yourself, and where do you feel like you’re performing?
- What choices are you avoiding, and what’s sitting behind that avoidance?
There are no worksheets or rigid frameworks. The focus is on meaning, agency, and authenticity, and how those show up in real, everyday situations: a career that no longer feels right, a relationship that feels distant, a persistent sense that life is passing rather than being lived.
Who is it for?
Existential therapy is a strong fit for anyone going through a significant life transition, dealing with grief or loss, questioning their identity, or experiencing a kind of emptiness that’s difficult to articulate. It’s particularly useful for people who say things like “I don’t know who I am anymore” or “I want my life to feel more meaningful” but aren’t sure where to start.
It also works well alongside other therapeutic approaches. Someone might combine existential exploration with CBT for anxiety management, or with psychodynamic work for deeper relational patterns.
The common misconception
Many people assume existential therapy is depressing, that it’s essentially guided despair. The opposite tends to be true. Rather than dwelling on life’s uncertainties, existential therapy uses them as a starting point for understanding what matters to the person in the room. Anxiety, uncertainty, and the fear of getting things wrong are treated not as problems to eliminate, but as signals worth paying attention to.
As Pleso Therapy psychologists note, one of the most consistent things clients report after existential work is a stronger sense of agency, a feeling that their choices are actually theirs, and that they are living their life rather than just moving through it.
Is it right for you?
If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your own life, unsure of what you actually want, or caught between who you are and who you feel you’re supposed to be, existential therapy might be worth exploring. It won’t offer a ten-step plan. But it can help to offer a clearer sense of yourself, and the confidence to act from that place.
