What is Philosophical Counseling?
Ok, so you've heard the phrase a couple of times. But what is this philosophical counseling thing anyway? As the world of philosophical counseling is still in its pioneering stages, my hope is that this summary* will serve as a helpful resource for potential clients wishing to try out philosophical counseling, and for philosophers wishing to develop their own philosophical counseling practice. So, are you ready to geek-out on a philosopher's answer to the question of what is philosophical counseling? Let's go!
The Basic Premise
Let's start here: Our ways of thinking influence our ways of feeling, desiring, choosing, acting, creating, relating, and being in the world. But most of the time we don't even notice our patterns of thinking. They run on auto-pilot, fueled by old habits and operating assumptions. If we could slow down and reflect on our ways of thinking, we might better understand our orientation on the world, and have a chance to ask questions about it, find out how it serves us, and how it trips us up at times. If we could examine our ways of thinking, we might cultivate greater clarity, coherence, breadth, and depth in our worldview. This worldview can have a big impact on our future actions, reactions, and general experience of life. If we can learn how to apply a worldview that we've developed carefully and reflectively to our actions in a deliberate way, we can live with a much greater sense of empowerment and authenticity.
A regular practice of self-examination and deliberate action – the cornerstone of a philosophical life, and the very thing we pursue together in philosophical counseling – has the power to increase our sense of understanding, meaning, purpose, freedom, and fulfillment in our lives. It also has the power to transform many of the emotional culprits that cause us suffering – fear, dread, angst, anger, sadness, excessive attachment, jealousy, resentment, and guilt.
Philosophical counseling is, thus, a process that is educative, empowering, and therapeutic.
What do you do in Philosophical Counseling?
In philosophical counseling, we embark on an inquiry into your life.
Philosophical counseling is a collaborative and conversational activity between a trained philosopher and a client in which the client’s life-problems are worked through by identifying, examining, and revising as necessary the operating beliefs, values, and habits of action that inform those problems.
(1) The process of identifying the client’s implicit “truths” and values, and making them explicit, improves self-awareness and puts the client in a position to clarify and critically examine the fundamental principles that have been guiding their lives.
(2) The process of critically examining the client’s core truths and values helps them to analyze the reasons and evidence that support their beliefs, discover the strengths and weaknesses as well as the benefits and challenges of their ways of thinking, and compare them with alternative perspectives. It also helps them to become aware of inconsistencies between beliefs, and conflicts between beliefs and habits of action (what they say and do). These revelations help the client to become aware of instances in which they might be working at cross-purposes with themselves.
(3) The revision stage is one of creative re-building, in which the client’s core truths and values shift, expand, and sharpen, with the consideration of various perspectives from philosophical wisdom traditions. It is also a stage of application, in which the client experiments with putting new ideas into practice, and works to direct their actions, relationships, and ways of communicating with intentional choice.
In counseling, the three stages tend to move in a circular manner, rather than a linear one. As new insights emerge, it can be valuable to circle back to earlier stages with new ideas for deeper examination.
The ultimate goal of philosophical counseling is to help the client to conduct an inquiry into their own life, to develop their own coherent, empowered, and fulfilling philosophy of life, and to live it! Minimally, what a client can expect to get out of philosophical counseling is greater self-knowledge and understanding of their own problems. Maximally, they can become empowered to solve those problems, relieve suffering, and create greater fulfillment in their lives.
The Role of the Philosophical Counselor
A philosophical counselor approaches their client as a fully functioning individual with the courage to deal with the perplexities and struggles central to the human condition.
A philosophical counselor does not diagnose or treat emotional or behavioral disorders, and if problems arise of a medical nature, the philosophical counselor will help the client to seek an appropriate health care professional.
A philosophical counselor works collaboratively with their client to solve life-problems by activating and cultivating the powers the client already possesses – like critical thinking, imagination, empathy, desire, self-discipline, and creativity. A philosophical counselor acts as a navigation partner on the client’s own journey to gain awareness, find direction, create solutions, and develop a fulfilling life.
The philosophical counselor does not tell the client what to think or what to do, but instead asks questions, uses tools of critical examination, offers fresh perspectives, draws connections, and gives encouragement. Most importantly, a philosophical counselor listens carefully to their client, works to understand the client’s problems and their operating worldview, and works with the client to develop a coherent philosophy of life that will serve their own well-being.
An old role
It may seem that philosophical counseling is a new invention. Actually, it is as old as philosophy itself. The Ancient Greeks – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, the Epicureans – saw philosophy as not only an educational activity, but as a kind of therapy for the soul that eased suffering, developed personal integrity, encouraged self-mastery, created justice, and cultivated the good life.
Even in the era of academic philosophy, this ancient vision of philosophy has survived in the philosophical traditions of ethics, political philosophy, existentialism, pragmatism, feminism, and hermeneutics (among others). Modern day philosophical counselors revive the ancient art of philosophy, and put it to work in a one-on-one setting.
What kinds of problems are philosophical problems?
You might wonder whether or not you’ve got any philosophical problems. Most of the time we characterize our problems in terms of a particular relationship we're struggling with, a big life change, or a feeling of sadness, loss, confusion, loneliness, frustration, powerlessness, burn-out, or worry. But, quite often these very problems are signs of broader philosophical problems that deserve attention.
Common philosophical problems include questions or difficulties with:
It’s important to recognize that not all life-problems are medical in nature. Not every instance of struggle, suffering, or unhappiness is a sign of a mental illness. There are times when it is appropriate to seek a health care professional with training in psychology for treatment of an emotional or behavioral disorder. There are instances in which a problem in one’s brain-chemistry exists and it is appropriate to get the help of a psychiatrist who can prescribe medication. But when problems are not medical in nature, one needs a different kind of counsel.
Sometimes non-medical problems are narrow in scope, requiring legal, financial, business, or academic counsel. And sometimes the problems are more general, at their root having to do with questions like:
These are classic questions of philosophy.
Most everyday problems dealing with ethics, values, meaning, purpose, truth, certainty, justice, power, freedom, and happiness are not medical in nature and cannot be resolved with medical intervention. They are best approached through philosophical dialogue.
Differences between philosophical dialogue and psychotherapy
Philosophical dialogue is a unique kind of dialogue. In it, we take our time to slowly and thoroughly clarify the meaning of our terms, examine lines of reasoning with critical thinking tools, compare our ways of thinking with other perspectives and worldviews, and consider the relationship between our ways of thinking and our ways of feeling, choosing, communicating, and acting.
Unlike psychotherapy, philosophical dialogue is not diagnostic. A philosopher does not treat their interlocutor as a patient, nor assume that there is a disorder or illness present (beyond the challenges with the human condition that we all face). A philosopher does not presume causal explanations for their interlocutor's behaviors, feelings, or thoughts: He or she does not view their interlocutor as one who is "determined" to feel, act, or think in a certain way because of internal or external conditions.
Whereas many psychotherapists tend to approach problems by focusing on their interlocutor's emotional life, eliciting affect, tracing a personal history of trauma, and identifying childhood origins of current difficulties (a retrospective approach focused heavily on emotion); philosophical counselors approach ways of feeling as a starting point for understanding and examining our ways of thinking, our world views, judgments, and values, which influence the way we experience the world and the choices we make. Philosophical counselors work to elicit reasons and evidence for the ways one thinks, ask questions about what is true, good, and fair, open up different perspectives for discussion, and help their clients to consider their future trajectory and range of possibilities (a prospective approach connecting thinking, feeling, and choosing).
Philosophical counselors also consider the ways in which one’s personal history takes place within a wider context of social-political structures. There are times when one's distress has much to do with the power relations in which one exists or the state of injustice in the world, and the remedy is not so much about turning inward and learning to adapt to that injustice, but learning how to engage politically, and resist in active, creative, and fruitful ways that bring a sense of meaning, purpose, and agency to our lives.
There are a number of psychotherapeutic methods that are not in tension with, but have a strong kinship with philosophical approaches, as their strategies' theoretical roots can be traced back to Socratic, Stoic, Buddhist, and Existential philosophies, among others.
In summary, philosophical counseling takes a holistic approach to the thinking-feeling-choosing-doing of the individual in a social-political world, and considers the individual’s powers of examination, creative exploration, and reflective choice to be vehicles of movement and change.
A philosopher’s training
Philosophers have a kind of training that makes them well suited for the kind of dialogue-work described above. It is probably well known that philosophers have a knack for asking questions, clarifying ideas, challenging popular opinions, drawing connections, offering fresh perspectives, and getting involved in painstakingly careful inquiries into big questions. There are some other skills philosophers have that are particularly useful in a one-on-one counseling relationship.
So, here's the punchline. A philosopher can make an excellent co-traveler on your journey into the big questions of life. A philosopher can offer a unique inquiry-experience that opens up distinct dimensions of thought, and that complements and moves beyond other forms of "talk-therapy."
*I'm indebted to the conversations that took place at the certification program for philosophical counseling at the American Philosophical Practitioners Association in 2018 for many of the ideas articulated here, as well as to my discussions with fellow philosophical practitioners.
The Basic Premise
Let's start here: Our ways of thinking influence our ways of feeling, desiring, choosing, acting, creating, relating, and being in the world. But most of the time we don't even notice our patterns of thinking. They run on auto-pilot, fueled by old habits and operating assumptions. If we could slow down and reflect on our ways of thinking, we might better understand our orientation on the world, and have a chance to ask questions about it, find out how it serves us, and how it trips us up at times. If we could examine our ways of thinking, we might cultivate greater clarity, coherence, breadth, and depth in our worldview. This worldview can have a big impact on our future actions, reactions, and general experience of life. If we can learn how to apply a worldview that we've developed carefully and reflectively to our actions in a deliberate way, we can live with a much greater sense of empowerment and authenticity.
A regular practice of self-examination and deliberate action – the cornerstone of a philosophical life, and the very thing we pursue together in philosophical counseling – has the power to increase our sense of understanding, meaning, purpose, freedom, and fulfillment in our lives. It also has the power to transform many of the emotional culprits that cause us suffering – fear, dread, angst, anger, sadness, excessive attachment, jealousy, resentment, and guilt.
Philosophical counseling is, thus, a process that is educative, empowering, and therapeutic.
What do you do in Philosophical Counseling?
In philosophical counseling, we embark on an inquiry into your life.
Philosophical counseling is a collaborative and conversational activity between a trained philosopher and a client in which the client’s life-problems are worked through by identifying, examining, and revising as necessary the operating beliefs, values, and habits of action that inform those problems.
(1) The process of identifying the client’s implicit “truths” and values, and making them explicit, improves self-awareness and puts the client in a position to clarify and critically examine the fundamental principles that have been guiding their lives.
(2) The process of critically examining the client’s core truths and values helps them to analyze the reasons and evidence that support their beliefs, discover the strengths and weaknesses as well as the benefits and challenges of their ways of thinking, and compare them with alternative perspectives. It also helps them to become aware of inconsistencies between beliefs, and conflicts between beliefs and habits of action (what they say and do). These revelations help the client to become aware of instances in which they might be working at cross-purposes with themselves.
(3) The revision stage is one of creative re-building, in which the client’s core truths and values shift, expand, and sharpen, with the consideration of various perspectives from philosophical wisdom traditions. It is also a stage of application, in which the client experiments with putting new ideas into practice, and works to direct their actions, relationships, and ways of communicating with intentional choice.
In counseling, the three stages tend to move in a circular manner, rather than a linear one. As new insights emerge, it can be valuable to circle back to earlier stages with new ideas for deeper examination.
The ultimate goal of philosophical counseling is to help the client to conduct an inquiry into their own life, to develop their own coherent, empowered, and fulfilling philosophy of life, and to live it! Minimally, what a client can expect to get out of philosophical counseling is greater self-knowledge and understanding of their own problems. Maximally, they can become empowered to solve those problems, relieve suffering, and create greater fulfillment in their lives.
The Role of the Philosophical Counselor
A philosophical counselor approaches their client as a fully functioning individual with the courage to deal with the perplexities and struggles central to the human condition.
A philosophical counselor does not diagnose or treat emotional or behavioral disorders, and if problems arise of a medical nature, the philosophical counselor will help the client to seek an appropriate health care professional.
A philosophical counselor works collaboratively with their client to solve life-problems by activating and cultivating the powers the client already possesses – like critical thinking, imagination, empathy, desire, self-discipline, and creativity. A philosophical counselor acts as a navigation partner on the client’s own journey to gain awareness, find direction, create solutions, and develop a fulfilling life.
The philosophical counselor does not tell the client what to think or what to do, but instead asks questions, uses tools of critical examination, offers fresh perspectives, draws connections, and gives encouragement. Most importantly, a philosophical counselor listens carefully to their client, works to understand the client’s problems and their operating worldview, and works with the client to develop a coherent philosophy of life that will serve their own well-being.
An old role
It may seem that philosophical counseling is a new invention. Actually, it is as old as philosophy itself. The Ancient Greeks – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, the Epicureans – saw philosophy as not only an educational activity, but as a kind of therapy for the soul that eased suffering, developed personal integrity, encouraged self-mastery, created justice, and cultivated the good life.
Even in the era of academic philosophy, this ancient vision of philosophy has survived in the philosophical traditions of ethics, political philosophy, existentialism, pragmatism, feminism, and hermeneutics (among others). Modern day philosophical counselors revive the ancient art of philosophy, and put it to work in a one-on-one setting.
What kinds of problems are philosophical problems?
You might wonder whether or not you’ve got any philosophical problems. Most of the time we characterize our problems in terms of a particular relationship we're struggling with, a big life change, or a feeling of sadness, loss, confusion, loneliness, frustration, powerlessness, burn-out, or worry. But, quite often these very problems are signs of broader philosophical problems that deserve attention.
Common philosophical problems include questions or difficulties with:
- Core beliefs and truths
- Critical thinking and questioning assumptions
- Creative thinking and trying out alternative perspectives
- Clear reasoning and consistency
- Ethics and values
- Meaning, purpose, and fulfillment
- Happiness
- Identity, self-discovery, self-improvement
- Change, loss, death
- Moderating emotional life
- Existential Angst
- Alienation
- Self-discipline
- Decision Making
- Power and Justice
- Communication and relationships
- Conflict resolution
- Freedom, responsibility, and self-determination
- Authenticity
It’s important to recognize that not all life-problems are medical in nature. Not every instance of struggle, suffering, or unhappiness is a sign of a mental illness. There are times when it is appropriate to seek a health care professional with training in psychology for treatment of an emotional or behavioral disorder. There are instances in which a problem in one’s brain-chemistry exists and it is appropriate to get the help of a psychiatrist who can prescribe medication. But when problems are not medical in nature, one needs a different kind of counsel.
Sometimes non-medical problems are narrow in scope, requiring legal, financial, business, or academic counsel. And sometimes the problems are more general, at their root having to do with questions like:
- What’s true?
- What’s right?
- What’s good?
- What should I care about most?
- What are my responsibilities?
- What does it all mean?
- What should I do?
- Who am I, and who do I want to be?
- How do I fit into the bigger world?
- Why am I here?
- How can I best relate with others?
- How can I best deal with change?
- How should I live?
- How can I take better control of my life?
- How can I be happy?
- . . . . and how can I come to know the answers to any of these questions and cope with uncertainty about them?
These are classic questions of philosophy.
Most everyday problems dealing with ethics, values, meaning, purpose, truth, certainty, justice, power, freedom, and happiness are not medical in nature and cannot be resolved with medical intervention. They are best approached through philosophical dialogue.
Differences between philosophical dialogue and psychotherapy
Philosophical dialogue is a unique kind of dialogue. In it, we take our time to slowly and thoroughly clarify the meaning of our terms, examine lines of reasoning with critical thinking tools, compare our ways of thinking with other perspectives and worldviews, and consider the relationship between our ways of thinking and our ways of feeling, choosing, communicating, and acting.
Unlike psychotherapy, philosophical dialogue is not diagnostic. A philosopher does not treat their interlocutor as a patient, nor assume that there is a disorder or illness present (beyond the challenges with the human condition that we all face). A philosopher does not presume causal explanations for their interlocutor's behaviors, feelings, or thoughts: He or she does not view their interlocutor as one who is "determined" to feel, act, or think in a certain way because of internal or external conditions.
Whereas many psychotherapists tend to approach problems by focusing on their interlocutor's emotional life, eliciting affect, tracing a personal history of trauma, and identifying childhood origins of current difficulties (a retrospective approach focused heavily on emotion); philosophical counselors approach ways of feeling as a starting point for understanding and examining our ways of thinking, our world views, judgments, and values, which influence the way we experience the world and the choices we make. Philosophical counselors work to elicit reasons and evidence for the ways one thinks, ask questions about what is true, good, and fair, open up different perspectives for discussion, and help their clients to consider their future trajectory and range of possibilities (a prospective approach connecting thinking, feeling, and choosing).
Philosophical counselors also consider the ways in which one’s personal history takes place within a wider context of social-political structures. There are times when one's distress has much to do with the power relations in which one exists or the state of injustice in the world, and the remedy is not so much about turning inward and learning to adapt to that injustice, but learning how to engage politically, and resist in active, creative, and fruitful ways that bring a sense of meaning, purpose, and agency to our lives.
There are a number of psychotherapeutic methods that are not in tension with, but have a strong kinship with philosophical approaches, as their strategies' theoretical roots can be traced back to Socratic, Stoic, Buddhist, and Existential philosophies, among others.
In summary, philosophical counseling takes a holistic approach to the thinking-feeling-choosing-doing of the individual in a social-political world, and considers the individual’s powers of examination, creative exploration, and reflective choice to be vehicles of movement and change.
A philosopher’s training
Philosophers have a kind of training that makes them well suited for the kind of dialogue-work described above. It is probably well known that philosophers have a knack for asking questions, clarifying ideas, challenging popular opinions, drawing connections, offering fresh perspectives, and getting involved in painstakingly careful inquiries into big questions. There are some other skills philosophers have that are particularly useful in a one-on-one counseling relationship.
- Philosophers have a trained ability to understand others’ worldviews, to learn them inside and out, to explain them, compare them, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, to analyze their benefits and challenges, and to think through their concrete implications in practice.
- Philosophers have a trained ability to listen carefully for an argument in what another person says, and to identify assumptions, implicit truth claims, and implicit values. They can trace carefully another’s line of reasoning, and ask the questions needed to examine it.
- Philosophers carry around with them a toolbox of well-used critical thinking tools that allow them to recognize and remedy faulty reasoning, fallacies, and contradictions.
- Philosophers have experience with uncertainty and exploring uncharted territories of thinking without a map. They are accustomed to working without a formula, and dealing creatively with open-ended questions.
- Philosophers know how to inspire learning, activate and awaken the inner philosopher in others (Socrates' gadfly effect), and empower people to think for themselves and choose reflectively.
- Philosophers know how to learn from others, take what they say seriously, interpret their meaning, and engage in an ongoing practice of self-critique and revision of their own understanding, providing a helpful model to others who are on their own philosophical journey for the first time.
- Philosophers know how to recognize relativism, nihilism, solipsism, and other “tail-spin” positions.
- Philosophers have been trained in, and can discuss, a broad array of wisdom traditions (ancient and modern, eastern and western). They are also experts in a few of their favorite theories, about which they have usually taught, debated publicly with other experts, and published in a deep and thorough manner.
So, here's the punchline. A philosopher can make an excellent co-traveler on your journey into the big questions of life. A philosopher can offer a unique inquiry-experience that opens up distinct dimensions of thought, and that complements and moves beyond other forms of "talk-therapy."
*I'm indebted to the conversations that took place at the certification program for philosophical counseling at the American Philosophical Practitioners Association in 2018 for many of the ideas articulated here, as well as to my discussions with fellow philosophical practitioners.
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