We do not encounter raw reality. We encounter interpretation.

In this episode, I begin with reports of alien abductions and follow the thread into a deeper philosophical question: how do human beings organize incomplete knowledge into a livable world? Along the way, we explore scientific inquiry, Kurt Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, Buddhist ideas of emptiness, and the recursive nature of meaning.

What emerges is a meditation on myth—not as a falsehood or untruth, but as the narrative structure through which our identity as embodied beings takes shape.

And in therapy, learning to see the limits of those narratives may be one of the most liberating experiences available to us.

This episode is part of The Existential Lens, hosted by psychotherapist Evan Kaufman. Evan is a therapist in Eugene, Oregon, offering depth-oriented therapy to adults and couples.

For more reflections on therapy, existence, and the human experience, visit
https://evankaufman.org

In this episode, Evan explores“the third actor”, the subtle way artificial intelligence enters our inner lives both in and outside of therapy. Beginning with a reflection on impermanence, the episode moves into clinical observations about AI, electronic stimulation, substance use, and the ways we outsource meaning, understanding, and contact with ourselves.

This episode is not an argument against technology, but rather an inquiry into what AI fails to provide: embodied presence, authentic relationship, and lived encounter with existence itself.

This episode is part of The Existential Lens, hosted by psychotherapist Evan Kaufman. Evan is a therapist in Eugene, Oregon, offering depth-oriented therapy to adults and couples.

For more reflections on therapy, existence, and the human experience, visit
https://evankaufman.org

Anxiety is often treated as something to eliminate, overcome or master. But what if it is pointing toward something deeper within us?

In this episode, I explore the relationship between anxiety and freedom through an existential lens. We look at anxiety as an encounter with the unknown, one that arises not only from fear or conflict, but from choice, responsibility, and the realities of being human. Rather than framing anxiety as pathology, this conversation considers how it can function as a guide, revealing where growth, meaning, and agency are being asked of us within our lives.

This episode is especially relevant for those navigating transitions, difficult choices, or a persistent sense of inner tension that doesn’t seem to resolve through insight alone.

This episode is part of The Existential Lens, hosted by psychotherapist Evan Kaufman. Evan is a therapist in Eugene, Oregon, offering depth-oriented therapy to adults and couples.

For more reflections on therapy, existence, and the human experience, visit
https://evankaufman.org