Existential psychotherapies use a range of approaches, but major themes focus on your responsibility and freedom. Therapists help you find meaning in the face of anxiety by choosing to think and act responsibly and by confronting negative internal thoughts rather than external forces like societal pressures or luck. Fostering creativity, love, authenticity, and free will are common avenues that help move you toward transformation. Similarly, when treating addiction disorders, the existential therapist coaches you to face the anxiety that tempts you to abuse substances and guides you to take responsibility. The goal: You learn to make more willful decisions about how to live, drawing on creativity and love, instead of letting outside events determine your behavior.
