by Don Laird, NCC, LPC
Anxiety is common, but its roots are often complex and elusive. While traditional therapies focus on managing symptoms, existential therapy offers a unique approach to understanding and addressing the deeper existential and life concerns that fuel anxiety symptoms. Here’s why existential therapy can be effective in helping you navigate and manage your anxiety:
1. Confronting Life’s Uncertainties
Existential therapy delves into the universal and unique human experience of uncertainty. Anxiety often arises when we face the unknown—whether it’s fear, a sense of purposelessness, or the inevitability of change. Existential therapy helps you confront these uncertainties head-on, not by eliminating them, but by learning to live with them in a more meaningful and mindful way. Through this process, you can reduce the power that uncertainty and fear hold over your emotions, embracing life’s inherent unpredictability with confidence and agency.
2. Focusing on Personal Responsibility
A core principle of existential therapy is the emphasis on personal responsibility. Anxiety is overwhelming because we perceive ourselves as powerless in the face of external forces and situations. Existential therapy shifts this perspective by encouraging you to take ownership of your choices and actions. By recognizing that you have the power to make meaningful decisions, you can reduce feelings of helplessness, and gain a greater sense of agency over your life.
3. Exploring Meaning and Purpose
Anxiety stems from feeling disconnected, fearful, or lacking purpose. Existential therapy encourages deep reflection on the meaning of your life, helping you understand what truly matters to you – finding your true north. By examining your values, passions, dreams, and beliefs, existential therapy can help you develop a clearer sense of purpose. When you feel aligned with your authentic self and your values, anxiety can decrease as you move toward a life that feels more intentional and fulfilling.
4. Facing Mortality
Death and the awareness of life’s finite nature can trigger anxiety. Existential therapy teaches you to face mortality not as something to avoid, but as a natural part of life. By acknowledging the inevitable, finding balance between life and death, you can begin to live more fully in the present moment, making choices that reflect what you truly value rather than being driven by your fears.
5. Cultivating Authenticity
Existential therapy encourages you to embrace your authentic self — free from external expectations and pressures. Anxiety often arises when we feel disconnected from who we truly are or trapped in roles that don’t align with our true identity. By fostering authenticity, existential therapy helps you reduce the internal conflict that fuels your anxiety and allows you to live in a way that feels true to you.
6. Building Resilience
Rather than attempting to eliminate anxiety, existential therapy focuses on building resilience in the face of it. Through exploration of your fears, desires, and inner conflict, you learn to accept anxiety as a natural part of the human experience. This acceptance, coupled with a deeper understanding of yourself, can make you more resilient when faced with life’s challenges, reducing the overall impact anxiety has on your life.
Conclusion
Existential therapy offers a unique approach to managing anxiety by encouraging you to confront life’s uncertainties, take responsibility for your choices, and find meaning in your experiences. Rather than seeking to escape anxiety, this therapeutic approach helps you transform your relationship with it —t urning anxiety into a guide for personal growth and a more meaningful life.
If you’re struggling with anxiety and seeking a deeper understanding of yourself, contact etalktherapy.com today for a free consultation or to schedule an appointment.
