On existential wellness coaching

This chapter introduces the emerging practice of existential wellness coaching, a form of coaching grounded in the idea that true wellness arises from alignment with life and the cultivation of personally meaningful purpose. The chapter explores how existentially minded coaches can raise fundamental questions about meaning, purpose, freedom, and authenticity, and demonstrates this practice through applied examples. Central to the model are 12 pillars of wellness—ranging from life philosophy and peaceful mind to purposeful occupation and daily steadiness—which together form a framework for supporting clients’ existential health. The chapter also presents four guiding existential questions (Why be? How to be? How to be with myself? And how to be, given the world?) and contrasts three life paths: traditional, nihilistic, and the radical path of meaning-making. Finally, a nine-step program is outlined to help clients actively choose to matter, make meaning, articulate life purposes, and live as passionate meaning-makers. The chapter positions existential wellness coaching as both a mindset and a method, offering a practical and philosophical foundation for coaches who wish to support clients in living authentically, purposefully, and with existential awareness.