Existential Motivations Card Sort – A Reflective Tool for Existential Counselling and Psychotherapy

A reflective card sort for existential and integrative counselling & psychotherapy. Designed for moments when meaning feels unsettled and action feels premature.

Existential Motivations Card Sort

A reflective card sort for existential and integrative counselling & psychotherapy - for moments when meaning feels unsettled and action feels premature.

This resource is designed for therapeutic work where slowing down, staying with experience, and protecting uncertainty are clinically appropriate.

Overview

The Existential Motivations Card Sort is a reflective tool grounded in Existential Analysis, adapted from the work of Alfried Längle.

It translates the Four Fundamental Motivations into phenomenological, first-person statements that invite lived experience rather than explanation.

Rather than helping clients understand existential questions, the cards support contact with how these questions are currently lived, strained, or avoided - without pressure to resolve, decide, or act.

This is not an assessment or technique.

The cards invite reflection and dialogue.

The Four Existential Questions

The cards are organised around four fundamental existential questions that shape human experience across the lifespan:

Can I be here?

Existence · Safety · Support

Do I like being alive?

Life · Value · Relationship

May I be myself?

Personhood · Dignity · Boundaries

What am I here for?

Meaning · Direction · Responsibility

These are not problems to be solved, but existential relationships that unfold over time.

Strain within a motivation often signals significance, not deficiency.

How This Card Sort Is Used

The cards are designed to be used reflectively and dialogically, supporting orientation rather than insight or action.

Practitioners use this card sort:

• When clients feel unsettled, disoriented, or “out of place”
• When action feels premature or pressured
• During life transitions, identity work, or meaning-focused therapy
• To slow the work down without shutting it down
• In supervision or therapist self-reflection

The practitioner holds the theoretical framework lightly. The client notices what feels present, distant, or difficult - without interpretation or evaluation.

Included Exercises (Digital Guidebook)

The digital guidebook includes three structured exercises designed to support presence and dialogue:

Existential Orientation Snapshot

Noticing which existential questions feel most alive or distant in the present moment.

Strain, Conditions, and Inner Consent

Exploring existential strain by distinguishing between external conditions and inner consent.

Holding Meaning Without Action

Staying with meaning without translating it into decisions or plans.

Each exercise includes practitioner guidance, client-facing aims, and clear do / don’t boundaries.

What’s Included

Individual Kit – €25

• 17 professionally designed Fundamental Motivation cards
• Printed in EU on 350 gsm silk card stock
• Card size: 74 × 105 mm (A7)
• Undyed twill cotton drawstring bag

Included in the kit:

• 17 Fundamental Motivation cards
• Printed A5 guidebook (shipped with the cards)
• Digital guidebook (PDF) with theory, practitioner guidance, and reflective exercises

Designed for use in counselling, psychotherapy, coaching, education, and reflective practice.

Classroom / Training Kit – €120

• 20 full card sets
• 20 printed A5 booklets
• Digital guidebook (PDF)
• Permission for teaching, training, and group learning contexts

What This Card Sort Is - and Is Not

This card sort is:

• Phenomenological and first-person
• Grounded in Existential Analysis
• Focused on noticing, not resolving
• Designed to protect uncertainty and dialogue

This card sort is not:

• An assessment or diagnostic tool
• A values clarification exercise
• A method for identifying “blocked” motivations
• A tool for increasing motivation or decision-making

If a session ends with greater presence, uncertainty, or contact with experience, the work has been faithful to the model.

Intended Audience

For qualified and trainee counsellors, psychotherapists, and coaches working within humanistic, integrative, or existential approaches.

This resource is not designed as a self-help tool and is not intended for use without appropriate professional training.

Delivery

• Physical cards and printed booklet are shipped internationally as a kit
• Digital guidebook (PDF) is delivered immediately via Payhip

Orders are shipped via standard post. Delivery times vary by region. Tracking may be provided for selected orders.

Many practitioners choose to combine this deck with the Existential Meaning Card Sort to save on combined shipping.