Humanist existential care is a humanist service that is on the verge of breaking through to public institutions in several European countries. In both Germany, Norway and the UK, exciting new developments are on the way. Standing on the shoulders of yearlong traditions in the Netherlands and Belgium, the need for equal access to professionalised existential care, no matter your religion or belief, seems to be getting recognition in several European countries.
In Norway, the humanist organisation has built a corps of ‘life counsellors’ during the last decade, who practice in the military, at the universities, in hospitals and in humanist houses across Norway. In the UK, humanist pastoral carers have been practising in hospitals for several years and have now gained access to the military, and in Germany, Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands is working vehemently to establish professional services at hospitals and in the military.
Even though volunteers have done and are doing a wonderful job in several institutions across Europe in cooperation with the national humanist organisations to meet the existential needs of people, the professionalisation of humanist existential care is a crucial step in the implementation of equal treatment in accordance with the freedom of religion or belief acts in both the UN and the EU declarations of human rights. The official recognition of existential needs as universal and not only connected to a religious worldview is crucial to the integration of humanist perspectives on a state institutional level.
The promotion of the right to humanist counselling and existential care in state institutions across Europe is a joint European endeavour, as well as a national and organisational priority. That is why the European Humanist Services Network (humanistservices.eu) is working to build a European professional network of humanist existential carers.
We are working to establish a joint standard for humanist existential care in Europe, and at the end of October, the very first inter-European course in humanist existential care will take place in Berlin. It will be a milestone in the joint European development of humanist existential care. Lecturers from Norway, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK will share their perspectives on the theoretical background of humanist existential practice within their respective national contexts.
The lecturers will draw on the extensive philosophical, sociological, psychological, and humanistic traditions of humanism and existential care across Europe. Participants are very welcome to register for this post-graduate course that will be held in Berlin, 27–31 October 2025. You can register for the course her.
