Using The Socratic Method In Counseling

Using The Socratic Method In Counseling Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Using The Socratic Method In Counseling book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.

Using the Socratic Method in Counseling

Author : Katarzyna Peoples,Adam Drozdek
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2017-09-27
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781351785136

Get Book

Using the Socratic Method in Counseling by Katarzyna Peoples,Adam Drozdek Pdf

Using the Socratic Method in Counseling shows counselors how to use the Socratic method to help clients solve life problems using knowledge they may not realize they have. Coauthored by two experts from the fields of philosophy and counseling, the book presents theory and techniques that give counselors a client-centered and contextually bound method for better addressing issues of ethnicities, genders, cultures. Readers will find that Using the Socratic Method in Counseling is a thorough and useful text on a new theoretical orientation grounded in ancient philosophy.

Socratic Questioning for Therapists and Counselors

Author : Scott H. Waltman,R. Trent Codd, III,Lynn M. McFarr,Bret A. Moore
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2020-09-08
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781000169461

Get Book

Socratic Questioning for Therapists and Counselors by Scott H. Waltman,R. Trent Codd, III,Lynn M. McFarr,Bret A. Moore Pdf

This book presents a framework for the use of Socratic strategies in psychotherapy and counseling. The framework has been fine-tuned in multiple large-scale cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) training initiatives and is presented and demonstrated with applied case examples. The text is rich with case examples, tips, tricks, strategies, and methods for dealing with the most entrenched of beliefs. The authors draw from diverse therapies and theoretical orientation to present a framework that is flexible and broadly applicable. The book also contains extensive guidance on troubleshooting the Socratic process. Readers will learn how to apply this framework to specialty populations such as patients with borderline personality disorder who are receiving dialectical behavior therapy. Additional chapters contain explicit guidance on how to layer intervention to bring about change in core belief and schema. This book is a must read for therapists in training, early career professionals, supervisors, trainers, and any clinician looking to refine and enhance their ability to use Socratic strategies to bring about lasting change.

Using the Socratic Method in Counseling

Author : Katarzyna Peoples,Adam Drozdek
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 186 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2017-09-27
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781351785143

Get Book

Using the Socratic Method in Counseling by Katarzyna Peoples,Adam Drozdek Pdf

Using the Socratic Method in Counseling shows counselors how to use the Socratic method to help clients solve life problems using knowledge they may not realize they have. Coauthored by two experts from the fields of philosophy and counseling, the book presents theory and techniques that give counselors a client-centered and contextually bound method for better addressing issues of ethnicities, genders, cultures. Readers will find that Using the Socratic Method in Counseling is a thorough and useful text on a new theoretical orientation grounded in ancient philosophy.

The Socratic Method of Psychotherapy

Author : James C. Overholser
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2018-10-30
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780231544832

Get Book

The Socratic Method of Psychotherapy by James C. Overholser Pdf

As the field of psychotherapy focuses more on treatment manuals and the regimented nature of clinical research, the practice risks losing the subtle nuances that guide the interactive fluidity of therapy sessions. Can clinicians combat this loss by incorporating ideals from ancient philosophy into contemporary psychotherapy? In The Socratic Method of Psychotherapy, James Overholser approaches cognitive therapy through the interactive dialogues of Socrates, aiming to reduce the gap between theory and practice. Clinicians and students will appreciate the flexibility and creativity that underlie effective psychotherapy sessions when guided by the Socratic method as an innovative approach to self-exploration.

Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD

Author : Patricia A. Resick,Candice M. Monson,Kathleen M. Chard
Publisher : Guilford Publications
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2016-12-26
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781462528646

Get Book

Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD by Patricia A. Resick,Candice M. Monson,Kathleen M. Chard Pdf

The culmination of more than 25 years of clinical work and research, this is the authoritative presentation of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Written by the treatment's developers, the book includes session-by-session guidelines for implementation, complete with extensive sample dialogues and 40 reproducible client handouts. It explains the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of CPT and discusses how to adapt the approach for specific populations, such as combat veterans, sexual assault survivors, and culturally diverse clients. The large-size format facilitates photocopying and day-to-day use. Purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. CPT is endorsed by the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, and the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a best practice for the treatment of PTSD.

The Therapeutic Relationship in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Author : Nikolaos Kazantzis,Frank M. Dattilio,Keith S. Dobson
Publisher : Guilford Publications
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2017-06-27
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781462531301

Get Book

The Therapeutic Relationship in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy by Nikolaos Kazantzis,Frank M. Dattilio,Keith S. Dobson Pdf

From leading cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) experts, this book describes ways to tailor empirically supported relationship factors that can strengthen collaboration, empiricism, and Socratic dialogue and improve outcomes. In an accessible style, it provides practical clinical recommendations accompanied by rich case examples and self-reflection exercises. The book shows how to use a strong case conceptualization to decide when to target relationship issues, what specific strategies to use (for example, expressing empathy or requesting client feedback), and how to navigate the therapist's own emotional responses in session. Special topics include enhancing the therapeutic relationship with couples, families, groups, and children and adolescents. Reproducible worksheets can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

Psychotherapist's Guide to Socratic Dialogue

Author : Mohammad Sadegh Montazeri
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2022-08-18
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9783031079726

Get Book

Psychotherapist's Guide to Socratic Dialogue by Mohammad Sadegh Montazeri Pdf

This concise volume serves as a ready guide to using Socratic dialogue with psychotherapy clients. In very clear language, this volume takes the reader through a working definition of the Socratic method and its clinical application. Used often in cognitive-behavioral therapy, this method is useful to all modes of psychotherapy. This guide provides a solid background to understanding Socratic questioning and examines the various types of questions that may be employed, as well as the different levels that may apply. Theory and explication are bolstered by numerous clinical examples. Useful for both beginning and experienced therapists, this book will enhance the therapeutic relationship and contribute effectively to better outcomes.

Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning

Author : Norbert M. Seel
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 3643 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2011-10-05
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781441914279

Get Book

Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning by Norbert M. Seel Pdf

Over the past century, educational psychologists and researchers have posited many theories to explain how individuals learn, i.e. how they acquire, organize and deploy knowledge and skills. The 20th century can be considered the century of psychology on learning and related fields of interest (such as motivation, cognition, metacognition etc.) and it is fascinating to see the various mainstreams of learning, remembered and forgotten over the 20th century and note that basic assumptions of early theories survived several paradigm shifts of psychology and epistemology. Beyond folk psychology and its naïve theories of learning, psychological learning theories can be grouped into some basic categories, such as behaviorist learning theories, connectionist learning theories, cognitive learning theories, constructivist learning theories, and social learning theories. Learning theories are not limited to psychology and related fields of interest but rather we can find the topic of learning in various disciplines, such as philosophy and epistemology, education, information science, biology, and – as a result of the emergence of computer technologies – especially also in the field of computer sciences and artificial intelligence. As a consequence, machine learning struck a chord in the 1980s and became an important field of the learning sciences in general. As the learning sciences became more specialized and complex, the various fields of interest were widely spread and separated from each other; as a consequence, even presently, there is no comprehensive overview of the sciences of learning or the central theoretical concepts and vocabulary on which researchers rely. The Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning provides an up-to-date, broad and authoritative coverage of the specific terms mostly used in the sciences of learning and its related fields, including relevant areas of instruction, pedagogy, cognitive sciences, and especially machine learning and knowledge engineering. This modern compendium will be an indispensable source of information for scientists, educators, engineers, and technical staff active in all fields of learning. More specifically, the Encyclopedia provides fast access to the most relevant theoretical terms provides up-to-date, broad and authoritative coverage of the most important theories within the various fields of the learning sciences and adjacent sciences and communication technologies; supplies clear and precise explanations of the theoretical terms, cross-references to related entries and up-to-date references to important research and publications. The Encyclopedia also contains biographical entries of individuals who have substantially contributed to the sciences of learning; the entries are written by a distinguished panel of researchers in the various fields of the learning sciences.

Dialogues for Discovery

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 561 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2023-08-24
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780192573827

Get Book

Dialogues for Discovery by Anonim Pdf

Dialogues for Discovery: Improving Psychotherapy's Effectiveness teaches psychotherapists of all modalities how to help their clients make more frequent and higher quality discoveries in every therapy session. Detailed therapist-client dialogues in each chapter illustrate the client-centered and collaborative 4-Stage Model of Socratic Dialogue, as well as other guided discovery approaches such as behavioural experiments, imagery exercises, and role plays. Guidelines for expert use of Socratic dialogue are highlighted to help therapists avoid common therapy traps that frequently derail therapy progress, as well as effective strategies for navigating and overcoming them. Chapters are written by international experts on each topic and each includes guiding principles to help therapy stay on track, summarized in “Keep in Mind” boxes. Reader Learning Activities at the end of each chapter suggest a variety of ways to tailor the skills taught to one's own therapy / supervision practice or classroom settings, as well as Reflective Practice Worksheets which further personalize and help consolidate therapist application and development of Dialogue for Discovery skills. Although Socratic questioning is most commonly associated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), this book offers a vision for how these processes can infuse all types of psychotherapy and lead to discoveries that transform client lives for the better.

An Introduction to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Author : Helen Kennerley,Joan Kirk,David Westbrook
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 513 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2016-11-16
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781473998261

Get Book

An Introduction to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy by Helen Kennerley,Joan Kirk,David Westbrook Pdf

This bestselling guide to the basic theory, skills and applications of cognitive behaviour therapy is fully updated to reflect recent developments in CBT theory. It includes in-depth material on working with diversity, and new case studies and exercises to help you reflect and explore how theory can be used to develop effective practice. The Companion Website features over 40 videos illustrating the CBT skills and strategies discussed in the book, including: Measuring CBT’s effectiveness Socratic method and applications Physical techniques and behavioural experiments Applications of CBT to specific client disorders Using supervision in CBT.

Cognitive Therapy of Depression

Author : Aaron T. Beck
Publisher : Guilford Press
Page : 442 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 1979-01-01
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780898629194

Get Book

Cognitive Therapy of Depression by Aaron T. Beck Pdf

This bestselling, classic work offers a definitive presentation of the theory and practice of cognitive therapy for depression. Aaron T. Beck and his associates set forth their seminal argument that depression arises from a "cognitive triad" of errors and from the idiosyncratic way that one infers, recollects, and generalizes. From the initial interview to termination, many helpful case examples demonstrate how cognitive-behavioral interventions can loosen the grip of "depressogenic" thoughts and assumptions. Guidance is provided for working with individuals and groups to address the full range of problems that patients face, including suicidal ideation and possible relapse.

Advanced Principles of Counseling and Psychotherapy

Author : Paul R. Peluso
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2022-09-23
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781000688351

Get Book

Advanced Principles of Counseling and Psychotherapy by Paul R. Peluso Pdf

The second edition of Advanced Principles of Counseling and Psychotherapy covers advanced helping- skills topics, including inductive reasoning, Socratic questioning, and creatively creating second- order change. Chapters explore strategies for using paradoxical interventions, including the use of humor, and working with double- binds. Professors and students alike will find that Advanced Principles of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 2nd ed., is not just a guide to training; it provides an in- depth understanding of material covered in introductory courses and supplements the material students will cover in practicum and internship.

Socratic Method and Writing Instruction

Author : Robert D. Whipple
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 126 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : Dialectic
ISBN : UCSC:32106017853026

Get Book

Socratic Method and Writing Instruction by Robert D. Whipple Pdf

This is a discussion of how Socratic method can work in a college or high school composition class. Contents: Defining Socratic Method; Development of Socratic Methods; Socratic Method and Objective Rhetorics; Socratic Method and Objective Rhetorics; Socratic Method and Subjective Rhetorics; Socratic Method and Transactional Rhetorics; Works Cited; Index

The Reconciled Body

Author : Andrei Simionescu-Panait
Publisher : Zeta Books
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2021-05-12
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9786066971416

Get Book

The Reconciled Body by Andrei Simionescu-Panait Pdf

What is elegance? Is it a quality of movement or gesture? Or is it rather connected to the way someone dresses up? Can we think of an elegant object or an elegant speech? These questions point at the ambiguity elegance presents any person wanting to reflect on it. The Reconciled Body responds to this challenge by looking at the birthplace of elegance: a subject’s experience. From movement consciousness to dreaming, from attention to the upright posture, this book presents the reader with first-person moments that are fundamental in shaping someone’s intimate sense of elegance. In the end, the reader is invited to reflect on the value of elegance and its potential in reconfiguring someone’s I-world relation: is it worth opposing the nature of consciousness to experience the self and other in a radically different manner? *** Simionescu’s brilliant formula on elegance conveys a sense of measure and a self-limitation in one’s unconventional conducts, fulfilling the characteristic, albeit subtle, moral nuance carried by the meaning of the word “elegance.” Following the main methodological rule of classical phenomenology, and at the same time drawing on contemporary research about embodiment and movement, the author finds his way to “material” axiology by a bottom-up analysis of the intuitive, lived matter of this value, laying the foundations of a phenomenology of elegance. (Roberta de Monticelli)

Wise Therapy

Author : Tim LeBon
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 0826452078

Get Book

Wise Therapy by Tim LeBon Pdf

Independent on Sunday October 2nd One of the country's leading philosophical counsellers, and chairman of the Society for Philosophy in Practice (SPP), Tim LeBon, said it typically took around six 50 minute sessions for a client to move from confusion to resolution. Mr LeBon, who has 'published a book on the subject, Wise Therapy, said philosophy was perfectly suited to this type of therapy, dealing as it does with timeless human issues such as love, purpose, happiness and emotional challenges. `Wise Therapy, is part of a series aimed at promoting an integrative attitude as its ethos. Among all the many perspectives of psychotherapists and counselors, philosophy needs to take its place and needs to find its voice. Tim LeBon has provided an effective means by which counselors can bring philosophy into their work with clients' - APPA journal `Tim Le Bon's Wise Therapy is a comprehensible and well argued book dealing with the practical therapeutic applications of philosophical research that may well be of interest to philosophers but -- as the author himself intends -- will be of most obvious benefit to therapists and counselors, both by informing their dialogue with clients in new ways and by helping them become more informed about ways to resolve the ethical dilemmas arising within the context of their own work' - Metapsychology `A fascinating workshop for therapists and clients, backed up a thorough degree if philosophical acuity' - Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis `I strongly recommend the book for philosophers as well as practitioners, teachers, students and supervisors in counselling and psychotherapy' - Self and Society `Provides some additional and valuable arrows for the therapist's quiver' - Irvin Yalom, author of Love's Executioner `Like Aristotle, Tim LeBon examines what is said and extracts what is best from it.... There are many fascinating exercises designed to bring out and enlighten the client's values, conception of the good life, well-being, happiness, pleasure, and the proper place of reason in life.... Wise Therapy is well written and engaging. The case histories are illuminating examples of therapeutic techniques at work, the thought experiments are well designed, and the philosophical position adapted from the internal debates of the philosophers is level headed.... I recommend it highly to philosophers with an interest in counselling, and psychological counsellors with an interest in philosophy' - Jeff Mason, The Philosophers' Magazine `Tim LeBon has... authored a text which should become a staple on the philosophical counsellor's bookshelf.... Wise Therapy is a concise, well-written book.... His ability to relate philosophical concepts to counselling concerns is admirable and attests to the skill and knowledge he possesses as a working counsellor. But, by far the most important part of Tim LeBon's book to PC is the last chapter, "The Counsellor's Philosophical Toolbox"' - Craig Munns in The Examined Life ` Tim LeBon has done a good job of offering practical approaches to some of the most important and vexing issues that arise in counselling.... Tim LeBon's book contains helpful suggestions, practical information, and useful examples, and would make a good addition to the library of any counsellors willing to allow philosophy to turn mere client sessions into wise therapy' - Peter Raabe, Practical Philosophy Wise Therapy is an original and practical guide to how philosophy can benefit counselling and psychotherapy. Tim LeBon argues that therapy, informed by philosophy, can help clients make better decision and achieve emotional wisdom. He uses philosophical approaches to explore issues of right and wrong, the emotions and reasons, well-being and the meaning of life, and develops a 'counsellor's toolbox' of techniques that can help practitioners apply the wisdom of philosophy to good therapeutic practice. For counsellors who may find philosophical approaches to therapy useful, this work addresses key philosophical topics - the emotions, free will, the meaning of life and ethics. It is jargon-free where possible and assumes no previous philosophical training. From The Independent, 16th November 2004 Plato is my agony aunt It was the end of a love affair that broke her heart. Could the wisdom of the great philosophers show her how to be happy again? Claire Smith tries a novel form of therapy "The unexamined life is not worth living," Socrates said. Nor is the life you're left with after your boyfriend has left you for another woman - at least, that's how it felt in October last year when mine broke rank and went off with an art student from Cleveland, Ohio. We were over there for the opening of his new art exhibition. He'd flown over four days before me and had met her at a party. Supposedly, they "connected". The five months that followed were a roller-coaster of confusion, vitriol and despair. I knew there'd been problems in our relationship. We saw the world very differently; he delighted in the charm of the ordinary, I wanted maximum divinity. He walked; I galloped. He drank tea; I loathed the stuff. But, along the banks of the Thames, we'd made a promise to always stick together. Our love was something unique: "transcendental", I called it. And besides, we recycled. Surely a commitment to save the world would save our relationship? Alas, no. So there I was, a woman scorned. Hell truly hath no greater fury. And what made it worse was that I still believed in our transcendental love. If I wanted to change the way I was feeling, I needed to alter the way I was thinking. But how? A few bottles of wine and a sharp blow to the head might have done the trick. Fortunately, there's an older, more trusted way of turning your head on its head that counsellors are starting to use: philosophy. The idea of employing Plato as an agony aunt was begun in 1981 by the German philosopher Gerd Achenbach. Although philosophy spends a lot of its time asking real-life questions that affect real-life people - What is happiness? And is it always wrong to lie? - most of the debate goes on in ivory towers. What Achenbach and subsequent philosophers including Tim LeBon, the chairman of the UK's Society for Philosophy in Practice, wanted to do was "give practical application" to this gigantic library of great thoughts. So how does it work? Like most types of therapy, you sign up for a set of sessions. "Two would give you a new perspective on one issue; six would help you to make a major life-decision, like a career change; with 12 you can start to rethink your entire life philosophy," explains LeBon. Each session lasts 50 minutes and costs £50 - and, no, you don't have to have any previous knowledge of philosophy. "If you think of Friends, it would suit Ross and Chandler more than Joey," LeBon says. "It's for anyone who wants to make their emotions more intelligent. Or for those who have tried other kinds of therapy, and want something more cerebral." The first session begins with the patient venting off about whatever's troubling them. The rant over, the counsellor then picks out some key concepts that are crucial to the problem - in the case of heartbreak, it is love and happiness that come hurtling to the fore - and then gets the patient to define what they mean. So, what is love? What is happiness? To kick-start the patient's thinking, LeBon describes what a great philosopher had to say about it. In my case, he tells me what Plato wrote about love in his Symposium: that to stop man fighting the gods, Zeus decided to cut each human in two, so they would lose their strength. "This, then, is the source of our desire to love each other," Plato said. "Each of us is a 'matching half' of a human whole, because each was sliced like a flatfish, two out of one, and each of us is always seeking the half that matches him." This method of probing what we might think are "obvious" ideas, such as love and happiness, was devised by Socrates in the squares of Athens. "The only I thing I know is that I know nothing at all," he boasted. What Socrates showed was that although many of the thinkers of his time thought they knew what justice, happiness and goodness meant, their understanding was tied in to their personal agenda and world view, and, what's more, when pushed, their ideas often contradicted themselves. A bit like me on love. Whereas part of my understanding of love was something that gave life meaning, made it worth living and bound us together, I also believed that true love was "transcendental": that it was out of this world, and it didn't matter if the two people who loved each other couldn't get along in the day-to-day. Love was bigger than the mundane. But when it came to the next stage of the therapy, critical thinking - "to check out whether your assumptions stand up to examination" - I walked head first into a contradiction. If I think love's purpose is to make life worth living, but then say it's irrelevant to daily life, surely my two ideas of love are not compatible? As the cogs in my brain start to creak into motion, I feel myself taking a step back from my predicament: thinking about how I've been thinking. This idea I had of transcendental love might have started off as a romantic dream. But when the relationship stopped working, and I found myself feeling trapped and frustrated, I used it to justify the mechanics of a relationship that just didn't work in the daily grind. I used it to lie to myself. In the final stage, LeBon gets me to start thinking about how to go forward. "You can't change what has happened," he says. "You can't change that he's left you, or how you behaved in the relationship. So, as the Stoics did, let's work on controlling the controllables: the things that you can change." To work out what can be changed, he gets me to try out a thought experiment, a method often used in philosophy to imagine other worlds where people can have different codes of behaviour. Thought experiments shatter your preconceived ideas of how the world should be and let your imagination run wild to how the world could be. "I find Viktor Frankl very useful here, the Austrian psychiatrist and concentration-camp survivor who actually believed that everything in life happens for a purpose," LeBon says. "Suppose this break-up did happen for a reason that will work to your benefit," he suggests. "What might that be? The answer might be that you can now focus on something important that was denied in the relationship. Or - the Hollywood version - so you'll meet someone who is really right for you." Temporarily freed of any sense of responsibility for the relationship that was, and its sorry demise, the list came fast. I could now travel more; he didn't like me travelling on my own, but too often he didn't want to go anywhere, preferring to stay in his studio and make art. I'd love to meet someone with a similar sense of adventure to mine. For the first time in two years, I was being honest with myself about what I really wanted - listening to those voices that we all have inside our heads, and too often try to muzzle. So did philosophy save me? Well, I'm now dating a travel writer I have to run to keep up with. I still haven't got over the fact that my replacement came from Cleveland, Ohio. But I guess I never will. Tim LeBon can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] A FEW WORDS FROM THE WISE Compiled by Ed Caesar · "At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet" - Plato · "There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness" - Friedrich Nietzsche · "That man shall live as his own master and in happiness who can say each day 'I have lived'" - Horace · "The good of man is the active exercise of his soul's faculties in conformity with excellence or virtue... Moreover this activity must occupy a complete lifetime; for one swallow does not make spring, nor does one fine day; and similarly one day or a brief period of happiness does not make a man supremely blessed and happy" - Aristotle · "There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than friendship" - Thomas Aquinas · "Whatever you do... love those who love you" - Voltaire · "Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination" - Immanuel Kant · "Happiness is a state of which you are unconscious. The moment you are aware that you are happy, you cease to be happy" - Jiddu Krishnamurti · "Love is an ideal thing. Marriage is a real thing" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I shrink, therefore I am Therapy has many answers, but some questions require the help of a philosopher, says Clint Witchalls Sunday November 21, 2004 The Observer Danny had worked in the City of London for 10 years. As a research analyst, stockbroker and fund manager, he'd made a lot of valuable contacts, earnt a lot of cash, and learnt some important business skills. However, as he approached his mid-thirties, he no longer felt good about himself or what he did for a living, and he found his colleagues cold and unfriendly. A chronic illness made him realise his mortality, and he began to reassess his priorities. Danny had been struggling with his career conundrum for nearly five years when he met David Arnaud, a philosophical counsellor. After a few soul-searching sessions, Danny arrived at a decision. Today, he teaches economics to sixth-formers, and he loves it. 'It's a much better lifestyle,' he says. Many people are turning to philosophical counsellors to get answers to questions such as: 'How do I make sense of myself?' 'What is important to me?' 'Where am I going?' These are perhaps not the sort of questions that require psychiatric intervention, but Arnaud, who recently completed the first empirical study of philosophical counselling in the UK, has found that within just five sessions the majority of clients, with important decisions to make, tend to move from a state of concern and confusion to a resolution. Modern philosophical counselling can be traced back to 1981, when the philosopher Gerd Achenbach opened the first practice near Cologne. Achenbach referred to the new discipline as 'therapy for the sane.' Today, there are hundreds of philosophical counsellors around the world, with the movement particularly strong in the US, Britain and the Netherlands. 'The dilemmas people face aren't always primarily psychological,' says Alex Howard, a philosophical counsellor from Newcastle. 'If people face problems that are social or economic, it doesn't make sense to define their problems in purely psychological terms.' Tim LeBon, a founder member of the Society for Philosophy in Practice (SPP) and author of Wise Therapy, adds: 'We are faced with far more life choices than our grandparents, yet have far fewer resources to deal with them. Our grandparents may have gone to a priest or to other family members for advice; most people don't trust these solutions any more and so want to make their own well-informed, well thought-out choices. Philosophical counselling can help these people - people in mid-life crises who are wondering how to make the most of the rest of their life. People who want to take stock of their values.' Where stressed executives might once have been prescribed a course of tranquillisers or antidepressants, they can now get a dose of Bertrand Russell instead: 'Success is too dearly purchased if all the other ingredients have been sacrificed to obtain it.' While some philosophical counsellors do recommend books for their clients to read, most sessions are about helping the client identify faulty thoughts. For example, a briefing in Aristotelian logic might show a client why their beliefs are erroneous. The person might infer that they're a screw-up because they've screwed up. The counsellor could point out that they're making an error called 'fallacy of composition' - that is, what's true of the part isn't necessarily true of the whole. In philosophical counselling, problems aren't pathologised as they are by the psychiatric profession, and the dialogue between client and counsellor is more like a meeting of equals, compared to many therapies where the client is treated like a patient and seen as someone who is, in some way, inadequate. 'Anybody can benefit from philosophical counselling,' says Howard. 'But it does require someone who is willing to take stock.' Lou Marinoff, author of international bestseller Plato Not Prozac! has done much to promote philosophical counselling. 'Some people who have stabilised their neurochemistry and validated their emotions now wish to examine or re-examine the criteria of their beliefs, the principles of their conduct, or the meaning of their lives,' he says. 'With whom shall they do this? Psychologists and psychiatrists can shed light on such issues - as can rabbis, priests, imams and gurus. Philosophers are now rejoining the ranks of helpers.' LeBon believes certain therapies (such as cognitive behavioural therapy) don't go far enough in helping their clients. 'For instance, if you are anxious about your relationship, a cognitive therapist would try to dispute your catastrophising and jump to conclusions to make you feel less anxious,' says LeBon. 'A philosophical counsellor would do this, but would also look for existential meaning in your anxiety - perhaps you really don't want to be in the relationship and that is what your anxiety is telling you.' LeBon also gives short shrift to psychoanalysts. 'There's very little evidence for the Freudian unconscious, and it's time to move on to more intellectually satisfying and helpful therapies,' he says. However, Alain de Botton, the man who popularised philosophy as self-help, isn't ready to bury psychologists and their ilk just yet. 'The truth is that psychoanalysis grew out of philosophy - it's not some completely new idea, and in fact, done properly, psychoanalysis is philosophical anyway. It may even be dangerous to the mental health of some people to suggest a philosopher rather than a properly trained analyst. The knowledge of analysts when it comes to many emotional problems is now much greater than that of most philosophers.' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004