A moment to pause and reflect on the significance of the existential paradigm for counselling psychology

Content & Focus: In introducing this Special Edition on Existential Approaches and Issues in Counselling Psychology this Editorial invites readers to pause and reflect on the significance of the existential paradigm for counselling psychology. Starting with a reflection on heightened existential awareness during a moment of perceived significance and purpose, the Editorial explores different contributions the existential paradigm has made to counselling psychology, particularly in the UK, where the British school of existential psychotherapy has had a major influence on the profession. It briefly describes the idea of ‘existential sensibility’ as a trans-theoretical attitude that can be applied across different therapeutic contexts and models and notes the impact phenomenological research methodologies have had on the discipline. Finally, it considers the increased presence of a stand-alone existential orientation for counselling psychologists and invites readers to continue fruitful dialogues between the existential paradigm and the discipline of counselling psychology overall, both in a UK context and on an international scale.