The house in Shelburne was everything the apartment in Boston had not been — quiet, with actual seasons, with a view of hills that changed color in a way that made time feel different. The career had shifted. The commute had vanished. The mornings were slower and the evenings longer and the reasons for making the move were all still intact and visible from the kitchen window. And the self that woke up every morning in that house was, in all the ways that mattered, recognizably the same self that had left.
This is a disorienting thing to notice, and most people notice it quietly.
Once the job changes, or the city changes, or the relationship changes, something about the interior experience will resolve. The version of me on the other side of this will be different — less anxious, clearer about what I want. The change is the condition, and the different self is what the condition will produce.
Sartre's most consequential argument against this was compact: existence precedes essence. There is no fixed self waiting to be released by the right circumstances — no essential version waiting to finally emerge once the setting was right. What we are is the ongoing result of what we choose to do with the conditions we find ourselves in, not the conditions themselves. The move was a condition. What gets made of it is still entirely open.
The mornings that were supposed to feel different feel different for a while, and then feel like mornings again — and the anxiety that belonged to the commute finds something else to belong to. The self that was expecting to arrive is already here, and it brought everything.
This is not a failure of the change. The move may have been exactly right. What it couldn't do — what no change in circumstance can do — is the interior work.
Existential therapy in this context is interested in what the person who arrived in Vermont is actually going to do with being here. Not whether the move was the right move, and not whether a different self is still available somewhere. What is available is this self, in these conditions, with the full history that traveled along — which is enough to work with, and sometimes more than enough.
I work with adults throughout Vermont — in Burlington, Montpelier, Stowe, Middlebury, and Woodstock — through telehealth sessions. Prospective clients are welcome to reach out at jonathanwalsh@hushmail.com or to request a complimentary 15-minute consultation through this site.
Frequently Asked Questions about Existential Therapy
What is existential therapy?
Existential therapy explores questions of meaning, freedom, choice, and identity rather than focusing primarily on symptoms. It treats emotional difficulty as information worth examining, not just a problem to be corrected.
What does existential therapy help with?
It is well-suited for life transitions, the feeling that a significant change didn't deliver what was expected, and the persistent sense that something important remains unaddressed even when the external circumstances have improved. It tends to appeal to people who want to understand themselves more deeply, not just feel better in the short term.
How is existential therapy different from CBT?
CBT targets specific thought patterns and behaviors. Existential therapy is more concerned with the larger questions underneath — what a person values, what they are choosing, and whether the life they are living is genuinely their own.
Who is a good fit for existential therapy?
It works best for people who are reflective and willing to sit with uncertainty rather than looking for a quick fix or a structured program.
Jonathan Walsh, LMHC, LCMHC, LPC is a licensed therapist providing existential therapy via telehealth in Vermont and several other states. He is a member of the New England Center for Existential Therapy and has completed core training at the Institute for Existential-Psychoanalytic Therapy. Learn more about Jonathan.