What is Existential Psychotherapy?

Existential psychotherapy is a way of exploring your experience of being alive. Not just when something feels difficult, but also how you make sense of yourself, others, and the world around you.

It brings together philosophy and psychology to look at both life’s big questions and the everyday moments we find ourselves in. Questions about meaning, freedom, identity, relationships, and how we want to live. Many of the struggles people bring to therapy can be understood through these deeper themes. Rather than trying to offer quick solutions, this approach takes time to understand what’s going on for you, in your own terms.

There isn’t a single “right” way to be, and this isn’t about deciding things for you. Instead, the focus is on staying close to your experience and making sense of it together.

It also holds in mind the wider contexts we live within. Our experiences don’t exist in isolation, but are shaped by social, cultural, and relational influences, which can be important to acknowledge and explore as part of the work.

My Approach

My work is grounded in existential psychotherapy, but I take an integrative approach, drawing on different ways of working depending on what feels most helpful for you.

At the centre of this is a focus on being with you in your experience, rather than trying to move too quickly to solutions.

Alongside talking and reflecting, I may also bring in other ways of exploring experience. This can include gently working with different parts of yourself, paying attention to how things are felt in the body, and recognising that insight alone is not always enough- sometimes things need to be felt and experienced more directly to shift.

I also have an interest in meditation, mindfulness, and spirituality, where this feels relevant to you, as another way of approaching thoughts, emotions, and the wider questions that can arise.

Throughout, I keep in mind the broader social and cultural contexts that shape how we experience ourselves and the world, and aim to work in a way that is thoughtful, inclusive, and responsive to this.

Who is it helpful for?

Existential psychotherapy can be helpful for anyone who wants to better understand themselves and their experience of life. You don’t need to be in crisis or have a clearly defined problem. At the same time, it can be just as helpful if you are coming with something specific that you’re struggling with.

You might be feeling lost, uncertain, or disconnected, or finding it difficult to make sense of your thoughts, emotions, or the way you’re responding to things. You may feel overwhelmed, out of control, or unsure of your direction, even if it’s hard to explain why.

Some people are drawn to this approach because they want space to reflect more deeply, while others come because something isn’t working and they want to understand and change it.

Wherever you’re starting from, therapy offers a space to slow down, think, and begin to make sense of what’s going on for you, in a way that feels meaningful and your own.