Existential therapy is a type of counseling that uses a philosophical focus on treatment. The human condition is used as a framework – emphasis is placed on the faculties, successes, and limitations of humans.
Psychological problems that arise in people are considered to be a result of an individual’s confrontation with the limits of human existence. Existentialism as a philosophical concept focuses on the unique distress that humans face- we are the only organism that is aware of our mortality and that we will die.
Existential therapies are not focused on the past like many other types of therapies. Although the past is acknowledged the present and the future are more emphasized along with the traits of being a human and how these limitations can be freeing.