What is Existential Psychotherapy?

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Existential therapy is a space to explore your experience of being alive — especially when something doesn’t feel quite right, but it’s hard to explain why.

Rather than focusing only on symptoms or quick solutions, it looks at the deeper questions that often sit underneath our struggles. Questions about meaning, identity, relationships, freedom, responsibility, and how we want to live.

At times, life can feel uncertain, overwhelming, or disconnected. You might feel stuck in patterns you don’t fully understand, or find yourself reacting in ways that don’t quite feel like you. Existential therapy offers a space to slow down and make sense of these experiences, in a way that feels personal and meaningful to you.

There isn’t a single “right” way to be, and this approach isn’t about fixing you. It’s about exploring what’s going on, and what matters to you within it.

My Approach

My work is grounded in existential psychotherapy, but I also draw on other approaches where they feel helpful.

This can include elements of:

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) — exploring different parts of yourself and how they relate to one another

  • Somatic awareness — paying attention to how experiences are held in the body, not just in thoughts

  • A relational, reflective way of working — focusing on how things show up in the present moment

I also have an interest in meditation, mindfulness, and spirituality, where these feel relevant to you. For some people, this can offer another way of relating to thoughts, emotions, and the wider questions that can arise in therapy.

I use these approaches not as techniques to apply, but as ways of deepening understanding. Sometimes thoughts alone don’t capture what’s going on, and bringing attention to emotion, the body, or different parts of yourself can open up new ways of making sense of things.

The aim is always to stay close to your experience, rather than fitting you into a model.

Who is it helpful for?

Existential therapy 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 to have a clearly defined problem. Many people come to therapy simply because something doesn’t feel quite right, or because they want space to reflect and make sense of what’s going on.

At the same time, it can be particularly helpful if you are experiencing things like:

  • Anxiety, stress, or a general sense of unease

  • Feeling stuck, lost, or unsure how to move forward

  • Strong emotions, such as anger, that feel difficult to understand

  • Self-doubt or a critical inner voice

  • Difficulties in relationships or feeling disconnected from others

  • Questions about meaning, purpose, or direction in life

  • Periods of change, uncertainty, or transition

You might also be drawn to this approach if you’re interested in exploring your experience in a deeper, more reflective way — rather than focusing only on symptoms or quick solutions.

Wherever you’re starting from, therapy offers a space to slow down, think, and begin to understand what’s going on for you.