The NeuroExistential Approach
Where cognitive neuroscience meets existential thought.
Three perspectives, one approach
NeuroExistential Therapy draws on three strands of work that I have spent much of my career studying and practising.
The first is PSYCH-K®, a structured, non-invasive process for identifying and working with subconscious beliefs. These automatic patterns often form early in life, before we have the words to question them, and can quietly shape how we see ourselves and what we believe is possible.
The second is existential philosophy, a tradition of thinkers who approached freedom, responsibility, time and meaning as lived questions rather than abstract ideas. It includes Kierkegaard, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, Bergson and many others.
The third is neuroscience. The brain’s hemispheres, its electrical rhythms and its ongoing relationship with the immune system all influence how we understand change.
You can read more about this below.
How a PSYCH-K® balance works
PSYCH-K® is a set of structured processes designed to help identify and work with subconscious beliefs and patterns that may be affecting your well-being. It uses muscle testing, also known as kinesiology, as a simple feedback tool to explore whether a particular belief feels supportive or limiting. It is not a medical diagnostic test.
PSYCH-K® Balances are gentle, non-invasive processes intended to help people work with beliefs or perceptions that no longer serve them, while making space for beliefs that feel more supportive and resourceful. The approach describes this as creating a “Whole-Brain State”, in which the two hemispheres are thought to work in greater coordination.
Within PSYCH-K®, this whole-brain state is associated with slower brainwave activity and is used as a context for reflecting on and working with subconscious patterns. Individual experiences vary, and this complementary practice is not a substitute for medical, psychological or mental health care.
Why existential philosophy matters here
Changing a belief is only part of the work. Existential philosophy asks a further question: given this new sense of what may be possible, how do I want to live? What am I responsible for, what can I let go of, and what does a life that genuinely feels like mine look like?
These questions matter because change is not simply about feeling better or becoming more efficient. It is also about becoming more able to meet the realities of one’s own life with honesty, freedom and care. This may include recognising where old patterns once offered protection, considering the choices now available, and deciding how to act in ways that feel more aligned with your values and relationships.
I bring these questions directly into sessions rather than treating them as separate from the practical work of change. The aim is not to prescribe a particular answer or version of a good life, but to create space for you to clarify what matters to you and respond more consciously to the circumstances you are living through.
I often return to Bergson’s account of duration. He understood lived time as a continuous, accumulating flow rather than a series of disconnected instants. From this perspective, change does not require you to reject or erase who you have been. It can mean carrying your history differently, letting new possibilities emerge while staying connected to the person you have become.
Why neuroscience matters here
Neuroscience is the third strand I bring into this work. It doesn't replace the felt, meaning-making side of therapy, but it helps explain, at the level of brain and body, why certain kinds of change happen the way they do. Three aspects of it matter most to how I practise.
The first is hemispheric lateralisation: the tendency of the brain's two hemispheres to specialise in processing experience differently, and to attend to the world in distinct ways. I draw on the work of Dr Iain McGilchrist, who synthesises decades of research on the hemispheres. According to McGilchrist, the left hemisphere offers a narrow, focused kind of attention, good for isolating detail, naming things, and getting a job done; the right hemisphere offers a broad, open, contextual kind of attention, more attuned to the whole picture, to relationships, and to what something means rather than just what it is. PSYCH-K® Balances draw on the idea of coordinating the two hemispheres to achieve a “Whole-Brain State”.
The second is brainwave research, particularly neurofeedback and relaxation studies, which show that the brain's electrical rhythms relate to state of mind. Faster beta-range activity dominates ordinary waking thought, while slower alpha and theta rhythms are consistently associated with calm, rest, and reduced anxiety. In neurofeedback studies, where people learn to shift their own brainwave activity in real time, training towards more alpha and theta activity has been linked to measurable, replicated drops in anxiety across several clinical trials. It's still an active, developing field, but it provides evidence for something both PSYCH-K and reflective practice rely on: that shifting someone's underlying brain state helps make the necessary changes.
The third is psychoneuroimmunology: the study of the bidirectional connections between the nervous and immune systems, each shaping the other. Decades of research have established that chronic psychological stress reliably alters immune function. This suggests that working through subconscious beliefs, stress patterns, and existential distress may support the body's ability to regulate inflammation.
What this is not
NeuroExistential therapy is a complementary, reflective practice. It is not a medical or psychiatric treatment, and it does not diagnose or cure any condition. If you are managing a physical or mental health condition, this work can sit alongside care from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.