How is existential therapy best considered?

Existential therapy is best considered as an approach to understand the subjective world of the client because it focuses on the individual's experience, choices, and the meaning they ascribe to their life. This therapeutic modality is rooted in existential philosophy, which emphasizes personal responsibility and the search for meaning in the face of life's inherent challenges, such as suffering, isolation, and mortality.

In existential therapy, the therapist engages in deep, empathetic listening and exploration of the client’s feelings, beliefs, and values. This process encourages clients to reflect on their existence and explore how they relate to their own experiences and choices. Such a focus fosters self-awareness and personal growth, allowing clients to confront anxieties related to freedom, isolation, meaning, and death, leading them to make authentic and informed choices in their lives.

This understanding of the individual's subjective experience distinguishes existential therapy from more structured approaches centered on behavior modification, cognitive restructuring, or societal norms, which do not prioritize the subjective internal world of the client in the same way.