How Existential Therapy Helps When You Feel Stuck
Feeling stuck, whether it’s emotionally, mentally, or directionally, can be deeply unsettling. You might not know exactly why, only that something feels off or disconnected. Existential therapy offers space to explore what’s beneath that feeling. It’s a gentle, reflective approach that can help you reconnect with your values, find clarity, and move forward with more meaning.
This article explores how existential therapy helps when you feel stuck and how it can support you when you’re feeling lost or unsure of your next step.
What Does It Mean to Feel Stuck in Life?
Emotional, Mental, and Existential “Stuckness”
The feeling of being stuck can manifest in various ways, impacting emotional, mental, and existential well-being.
Emotional - Numbness, detachment, or a persistent sense of unease.
Mental - Repetitive negative thoughts, difficulty making decisions, or a lack of motivation.
Existential - This may involve questioning your purpose or experiencing a sense of meaninglessness.
Several triggers can lead to the experience of feeling stuck, often stemming from significant life events or transitions. These experiences can disrupt our sense of stability and leave us questioning our path, making it challenging to make choices and leading to existential isolation.
Identifying Existential Crises
An existential crisis extends beyond regular stress, prompting deep questioning about one's human existence. This crisis frequently involves confronting fundamental existential issues. Individuals may struggle to find meaning and experience a loss of values and beliefs. Addressing these existential concerns is crucial for restoring a sense of meaning in life.
Understanding Existential Therapy
The existential approach, rooted in existential philosophy, emphasises the importance of individual freedom, responsibility, and the search for meaning. Influenced by thinkers like Sartre, Heidegger, and Yalom, existential psychotherapies focus on the human experience, including its inherent uncertainties and challenges. Existential therapy helps you confront these realities, promoting self-awareness and encouraging you to actively create the meaning you are searching for.
Key Themes in Existential Therapy
Existential therapy is grounded in several core themes that shape how we understand and respond to life’s challenges. At its heart is the idea of freedom and responsibility, that we have the power to make choices and are accountable for those choices. It also explores our natural search for meaning and purpose, especially in moments that feel uncertain or directionless. Other key elements include learning to sit with existential anxiety, navigating uncertainty, and acknowledging our fundamental aloneness in life. Not as something to fear, but as something to understand more deeply. Together, these themes invite a richer, more conscious relationship with ourselves and the world around us.
How Existential Therapy Differs from Traditional Therapies
Unlike more directive or problem-focused models, existential therapy does not aim to "fix" problems but rather facilitates exploration of underlying existential issues. Instead of providing solutions, an existential therapist helps individuals confront their existential concerns, encouraging them to take responsibility for their choices and actions. The therapeutic relationship is collaborative, fostering self-awareness and personal growth.
How Existential Therapy Can Help You Move Forward
Making Space to Reflect in Therapy Sessions
One of the most valuable aspects of existential therapy is the space it creates for reflection. Sessions offer a pause, a chance to slow down and gently explore what might be contributing to your sense of feeling stuck. Instead of aiming for quick solutions, this approach focuses on understanding your lived experience: how you relate to yourself, your choices, and what matters most to you. It’s through this deeper reflection that clarity, meaning, and a sense of direction can begin to emerge.
Exploring Meaning, Purpose, and Values
Existential therapy encourages a thorough exploration of meaning and purpose in your life. An existential therapist will help you identify your core values and beliefs, uncovering what truly matters to you. Through psychotherapy, you can clarify your existential perspective and align your actions with your authentic self. This process can help you reconnect with what truly matters and take steps aligned with your core values.
Embracing Curiosity with the Existential Approach
Existential therapy also supports individuals in facing uncertainty with curiosity rather than fear. Recognising that life is inherently uncertain, the existential approach encourages embracing this reality. With the help of your therapist, you can develop resilience in the face of the unknown, fostering a sense of adventure and openness to new possibilities. This allows you to make choices that align with your values and beliefs, even when the path ahead is unclear.
The Role of the Therapist in Existential Counselling
A Collaborative Therapeutic Relationship
In existential counselling, the therapeutic relationship is collaborative and egalitarian. The therapist acts as a guide and fellow traveller, rather than an authority figure. This therapeutic alliance promotes open communication, mutual respect, and shared exploration of your existential concerns. This supportive environment is essential for fostering self-awareness and personal growth.
Holding Uncertainty Without Pressure to Fix
A key aspect of the existential approach is the therapist's ability to hold uncertainty without pressure to provide immediate solutions. Unlike some other forms of psychotherapy, existential therapy recognises that grappling with existential issues requires time and patience. The therapist, well-versed in existential philosophy, provides a safe space to explore complex emotions and questions, allowing you to find meaning and develop your own insights.
What to Expect From the Process of Therapy
In the initial therapy sessions, the primary focus is on exploring your current human experience. The therapist will create a safe and supportive environment to help clients articulate their feelings of being stuck, their existential concerns, and their overall life circumstances. This initial exploration lays the groundwork for a deeper understanding of the existential issues contributing to your sense of stagnation.
As you progress, you can expect to gain clarity about your values and beliefs and a stronger sense of agency. You'll begin to identify patterns, challenge limiting beliefs, and make choices that align with your authentic self.
When to Consider Existential Therapy
Emotional Indicators
Certain emotional signs may indicate that existential therapy may be a beneficial approach to psychotherapy. These can include a persistent sense of emptiness, a lack of motivation, chronic anxiety, or a pervasive feeling of meaninglessness. If you find yourself frequently questioning the purpose of your existence or experiencing existential isolation, this could be a route to consider.
Situational Cues
Situational cues can also prompt a consideration of existential therapy. Significant life transitions such as a career crisis, relationship dissolution, the loss of a loved one, or major milestones can trigger existential concerns. These moments often lead to a reevaluation of one's life, values and beliefs, and search for meaning, making existential psychotherapy a relevant and supportive option.
You Don’t Need to Have It All Figured Out
It's important to remember that you don't need to have all the answers before seeking support. Many individuals hesitate to try therapy because they feel they should be able to navigate life's challenges on their own. However, seeking help through psychotherapy, particularly existential therapy, is a sign of strength and self-awareness, not weakness.
If you’re feeling stuck - in life, in your thoughts, or in yourself - therapy can offer a space to begin exploring what’s beneath the surface. At Badashian Therapy, I offer a calm, reflective environment where you don’t need to have the answers, only the willingness to be curious.
Whenever you're ready, I’m here to meet you where you are.