Mission Statement

The Existential Movement aims to make existential ideas available to the wider public in order to help people achieve greater clarity in their reflection on human existence and in solving their personal and emotional problems.  It seeks to create a safe space for this reflection and for the communal practice of a down to earth philosophical approach that brings wisdom to the international community. The mission of EM is to provide a broader base and a clearer perspective for people who wish to live their lives in a more reflective and meaningful way, without having to turn to existential therapy or counselling. 

The movement will draw strongly on the ideas and methods developed by the large and well-established international community of existential therapists, which is well-represented on our Honorary Advisory Board. 

Existential therapy, as practised in many countries around the world has developed its own approach to the spiritual and emotional health of clients, which is based on phenomenological philosophy, existential philosophy, and ontology.  It has provided an alternative sense of meaning for those looking for new values and purpose outside conventional religion. It is our mission to offer this meaning framework to as many people as we can reach.  

Objectives

The propose to do this in some of the following ways. 

  1. To translate the insights of existential philosophy and existential psychotherapy into simple and down to earth terms so that people can apply these principles for themselves in their everyday lives. 
  2. To produce podcasts, books and articles to support this free sharing of existential information and understanding. 
  3. To organize online conferences to spread and debate existential issues, as they are experienced directly by individuals around the world in different cultures and settings. 
  4. To provide a platform for discussion of people’s existential concerns, such as ‘what is the meaning of life?’, ‘how should I live a worthwhile life?’ or ‘is it possible to be happy?’ 
  5. To provide an educational hub, where younger people can have access to learning about existential ideas in such a way that they can more easily find new direction and a sense of meaning and purpose in the world. 
  6. To intervene in societal institutions and organizations to make an existential perspective available where it is most needed. This would include political lobbying to provide access to basic existential support in the community, in terms of education and social care. 
  7. To debate and collaborate with representatives of religious and spiritual organizations, including humanists and atheists to create a more comprehensive range of belief systems for people to choose from.  Existential ideas are much needed in this arena.  
  8. To provide a focus for people in social media, including on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and other outlets, with the two-fold objective of spreading the ideas and allowing people to interact and ask questions about concrete life issues they are struggling with.