Existential dread is a profound and often overwhelming awareness of life’s fundamental uncertainties and limitations. This sense of dread emerges during periods of profound transition, crisis, or awakening. Though frequently framed through diagnostic categories, existential dread is a profoundly human response to the fundamental conditions of existence. In a world of unpredictable change, such as climate change, war, and the shifting face of democracy, the impact is felt when familiar meanings are lost.

Confronting existential dread, the individual doesn’t just think about these concerns; they experience them in ways that shake their fundamental self-belief and the world around them. Our personal worldview helps to ground us in time and place, offering a sense of certainty about being in and part of the world. Change at any level of being-in-the-world brings uncertainty, and with it, the desire for continuity and certainty.

Drawing on the work of key philosophers and contemporary practitioners, this webinar will examine how dread serves as a doorway to exploring the unique human condition and how existential dread can help ground us in the world while shaping a meaningful narrative in the often, unpredictable world.

Key themes include freedom, aloneness, uncertainty, mortality, anxiety, and the pursuit of meaning (or its absence). We will consider existential dread in the clinical setting and how dread can present in various ways, often misinterpreted as purely pathological anxiety or depression.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Demonstrate awareness of the key philosophical foundations of existential dread.

• Recognise the difference between existential crisis and existential dread

• Understand existential anxiety as a motivator for action

• Consider working with existential dread from an existential-phenomenological stance

Venue: Live Webinar (Zoom registration required. Please check your booking confirmation email).

Date: Wednesday, 18th March, 2026 

Time: 6.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. (Sydney/Melbourne/Canberra Time)

Cost: Free (Live Webinar Only)

$14.99 (Live Webinar &/or Access to Recording for 60 days)

CPD Certificate: 1.5 Hours. CPD certificates are issued to attendees who meet one of the following criteria: attend the live webinar with at least 80% attendance, or watch the webinar recording and complete the associated assessment component.

About Dr Adam McLean Adam is a clinical psychotherapist, supervisor, educator, and trainer with over 30 years’ experience and a continuing interest in the human capacity for opening-up to the possibilities in life. He is recognised as a leading group therapist and supervisor and provides training in both areas. Adam’s doctorate focused on what it takes to elevate group leader technique to the art of group leader presence. Adam has a thriving private practice and is a Director of the Centre for Existential Practice.

About eiseEducation: eiseEducation is a thought-leading education consultancy that delivers exceptional training to higher education, corporate and community sectors. We work from the insightful understanding of each client’s unique situation to deliver bespoke courses and exceptional results. Find out more at eiseeducation.com