Existential Therapy Things That Went Well Worksheet: Building Agency & Meaning

This Existential Therapy Things That Went Well Worksheet guides clients through a detailed forensic analysis of a successful life event. Across seven targeted prompts, clients are invited to describe a specific achievement, explore the causal factors behind the success, and map their internal states (thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) before, during, and after the event. A critical clinical component of this worksheet is the inquiry into “passivity versus specific action,” which forces the client to acknowledge their own role in the outcome. By requiring a written reflection on these dynamics, the tool helps the client internalize their success, transforming a fleeting memory into a stable “meaning-anchor” for future challenges.

The structured layout is designed to highlight the relationship between intentionality and fulfillment. By documenting the successful exercise of their “will,” clients create a tangible blueprint for competence that can be used to navigate current areas of uncertainty or existential dread with greater clinical clarity and self-efficacy.

How This Worksheet Can Be Used

Clinical Sessions:
Therapists use the worksheet to anchor “Competence-Building” sessions. It serves as a prompt for Socratic dialogue to help the clinician identify the client’s unique strengths and “attitudinal values” that emerge when they are functioning at their best.

Overcoming Existential Helplessness:
This tool is highly effective for clients who feel “stuck” or powerless. By analyzing a time they took “specific action” to create a good result, the therapist can challenge the belief that the client has no control over their current situation.

Relapse Prevention and Resilience:
Clients use the worksheet to build a “resilience portfolio.” When facing future crises, they can refer back to this document as evidence of their ability to navigate unpredictability and create positive meaning through their own choices.

Benefits of the Existential Therapy Things That Went Well Worksheet

• Builds a sense of personal agency by identifying the client’s role in past successes.
• Supports the “Will to Meaning” by highlighting moments of creative or attitudinal achievement.
• Reduces existential anxiety by providing evidence of the client’s effectiveness in an unpredictable world.
• Distinguishes between “chance events” and outcomes driven by intentional “specific action.”
• Increases self-efficacy and self-worth through the structured internalization of success.
• Provides a practical framework for moving from a passive “victim” role to an active “author” role.

Integrating This Tool into Clinical Work

Integrating the Existential Therapy Things That Went Well Worksheet is most effective when clinicians emphasize the “before, during, and after” sequence. Clinicians should guide clients to notice the specific “action-oriented” thoughts they had when things went well, contrasting them with the “passive” thoughts they may be experiencing now. In the “Specific Action” section, the clinician can help the client identify their “signature strengths,” asking, “How can you apply that same action to the challenge you are facing today?”. It is vital to validate that while we cannot control every variable, our *reaction* is the primary source of our power. By consistently referring back to these successful entries, the clinician reinforces the idea that the client is a capable agent of change, leading to a more courageous and authentic engagement with life’s challenges.

References

• Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Press. (The seminal work on agency and finding meaning in action).
• Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. Basic Books. (Focusing on the importance of responsibility and agency in mental health).
• May, R. (1969). Love and Will. Norton. (Providing context on the transition from passivity to intentionality).
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. Free Press. (Context on the “What Went Well” intervention in clinical practice).