An Essay Concerning the Substance of Counseling

2020

The Object-Oriented Ontology of Graham Harman, also known as Object-Oriented Philosophy, presumes to describe an ontology of all objects, including human beings. This essay shows how the discipline of counseling can benefit from such an ontology of objects. To move into this particular case of an Object-Oriented Ontology of human beings, and to distinguish, initially, at least, between the object that we are now concerned with, or will be soon, and the universe of subjectivity, I propose that we refer to universal objects, which is to indicate objects that exist in the universe, however we might define it. In this universal sense, we must take a step into the object that is the subject by removing obstacles which will hinder discussion along object ontological lines. The epistemological obstacles which get in the way of a discussion of the object of the subject may include (1) the science of the mind, or psychology, and what I shall term (2) conventional philosophy under which a sort of regular understanding of phenomenology is organized, which is to say the general philosophical tradition which has developed around the ontology of the subject, the subject of reason, knowledge and discourse. We will see going forward, for a unified theory of counseling, though, that the phenomenology of mind is the most pertinent obstacle.

The model to understand human problems has been outlined by Pierre Grimes in his Philosophical Midwifery: a new paradigm for understanding human problems, and that study presupposes the study of the Self. This article argues a return to the Homeric-Platonic thought and dialectic as a basis for counseling.

The discipline of Mental Health Counseling, referred to in this essay as Counseling, has no substantial philosophy. In the United States, much of Counseling philosophy is rooted in the American Counseling Association's code of ethics. However, this is a code of material conduct, not a substantial Counseling philosophy, and by this orientation the distinction between doing and the knowledge that informs activity is not understood important. Counseling theories thereby adhere in a third principle that is left to disseminate in foreign powers. This is to say, Counseling is commonly understood as a name for a loose set of theoretical practices bound by ethical standards, that these practices are reckoned to lay apart from one another while all referencing or otherwise answering to psychology. Due to this deferment, the apparent rise of mental health issues could be attributed to a weakening of intentional focus, since psychology, by its own scientific standard, is less a standard of care than an experimental method oriented in discovering and implementing an objective reality through which it then offers corrective protocols. This essay draws upon philosophical efforts more rigorous than a granting of epistemological deferment to propose that Counseling is a practice unto itself, of a true substance, concerned, involved with, and related to psychology but not subject to it.

The Counseling and Family Therapy Review, 2022

This is a case study of a session with a subject. The subject's name is philosophy. Philosophy needs a counseling intervention due to the development of an epistemological rupture revealing two routes into or upon knowledge. This problem that philosophy faces arises along two epistemological routes, called truth and reality. The significant issue of philosophy is how to reconcile a true reality. The proposal at hand for this consideration by philosophy is that a reconciliation is most effective though argumentative validation in orientation over argumentative proof in ideological reduction. Our effort here works toward the truth of reality found through validation, while also revealing in its course that the reality of truth suffers from a necessity for an argumentative reductive proof. However, the subject is resistant and generally myopic in its ability to reckon truth sensibly; thus, the proposal of orientation concerns more an ability to consider evidence of the rupture and less the argument to prove the rupture is epistemologically coherent. The intervention for the subject is to interrupt the processual manner that we shall term the real conventional philosophical method, and while upholding its veracity by its functioning, nevertheless work into that epistemological area where the ideological decree it upholds as encapsulated as a fused or undifferentiated ontology nevertheless announces everywhere it is confronted that the basis of its real truth is, embarrassingly, unpronounced and as it is withheld. This essay-as-intervention develops the theme through which the upheld/failure of the philosophical decree of subject material is negotiated as reality. The proposal is that by exposing philosophy to its basic and founding problem, we will find what it is truly. We call the truth of the subject of the universe, the object of the subject.

The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, 2016

Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 2010

In the global environment it is important to move counselling from a fundamental reliance on psychological insights to a view that incorporates a radically different perspective. The application of method within the counselling relationship limits self discovery. Written from 30 years' experience within the New Zealand setting, this paper proposes counselling and therapy take more account of connections to inner and outer worlds that cannot be defined and exist briefly in moments of time. A new paradigm is proposed alongside a review of fundamental skills.

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2008

Approaches to counseling and psychotherapy are based upon philosophical assumptions that are usually unstated (Slife & Williams, 1995). In essence, these assumptions constitute worldviews (i.e., sets of assumptions about life and reality). However, the assumptions underlying different approaches to counseling and psychotherapy have never been stated in terms of a rigorous approach to the theory of worldviews. In this poster, I compare the implicit worldview orientations of (1) Freudian psychoanalysis, (2) cognitive-behavioral therapy, and (3) humanistic / transpersonal counseling and therapy, in terms of the Collated Model of worldview dimensions (Koltko-Rivera, 2004). I also note questions for future study, regarding theory, research, training, and practice in counseling and psychotherapy.

Felsefix International Journal of Philosophical Counseling and Ethics, 2024

Philosophical counseling grapples with fundamental questions about its nature, methodology and goals. Recognizing the limitations of philosophical counseling and establishing appropriate boundaries with other forms of therapy is essential for ethical and responsible practice. To determine these boundaries, it is first necessary to determine the province of philosophical counseling and establish what qualifies as its “subject matter”. Philosophical counseling effectively begins by precisely identifying the "problem" at hand, which necessitates discerning whether the client's concerns fall within the purview of philosophical exploration. Once the specific problem is identified, the counsellor and client collaboratively establish the goals of their engagement, whether it's cultivating self-awareness, therapy or consolations. After the subject matter and the desired outcomes are determined, they explore and select appropriate methodologies—such as Socratic questioning or reflective exercises—to effectively address the identified concerns and work towards achieving the established goals. To address these fundamental questions, we have to delve into metaphilosophy because we can’t determine the boundary or province of philosophical counseling unless we have clearly determined the boundary or province of philosophy. Similarly, identification of what counts as a problem for philosophical counseling is contingent on the identification of philosophical problems because philosophical problems constitute the subject matter of philosophy as well as philosophical counseling. Furthermore, the methodology of philosophical counseling should be a philosophical method like Socratic questioning, Platonic dialectics etc. or it may be a “beyond method” approach, reflecting the unique way philosophy operates on methods rather than with them. Finally, the goal of philosophical counseling may be therapeutic or non-therapeutic such as conceptual clarity, self-awareness etc. depending on the goal of philosophizing. For example, according to Daya Krishna’s metaphilosophy, philosophy is a self-reflective cognitive activity, and philosophical problems arise when there is “confusion”, “doubt”, “incompatibility” or “incompleteness”, in the self-reflective awareness of concept formation. Thus, philosophy as well as philosophical counseling have a definite starting point. Furthermore, philosophy aims at clarity—philosophy lives in the clarification of its doubts and clarification is the death of philosophy. Philosophy is an occasional activity that begins with philosophical problems and ends when the problem is solved or resolved, indicating that philosophical counseling sessions, too, cannot be endless. Philosophical methods can neither be purely logical nor empirical because philosophical problems exist in the space between empirical problems and logico-mathematical problems; neither can be solved through empirical methods nor logical-mathematical deduction. These philosophical problems are independent of “really real” or the factual world; they are primarily concerned with arguments with factual issues playing a subsidiary role. Anyone who claims to know the “really real” is a mystic rather than a philosopher. A philosopher’s concern is the concept of God rather than God as a reality. Hence, these distinctions determine the boundary or province of both philosophy and philosophical counseling. Thus, we can see how metaphilosophy can respond to the fundamental questions about nature, methodology, goals and limitations of philosophical counseling by providing clarity and a solid philosophical foundation.

South African Journal of Philosophy, 2009

The last two and a half decades has seen the emergence of philosophical counseling. While it is practiced in many countries comparatively little has been said on its general character. In this paper I will seek to understand philosophical counseling by exploring its points of convergence to and deviation from its complimentary parts-philosophy and counseling. The practical and applied orientation of philosophical counseling seems worlds apart from what many consider to exemplify philosophy-theoretical, intellectual and abstract concern with foundational questions. Given this it is worth exploring how philosophical counseling coincides with what is understood in academic circles as philosophy. On the other hand, the field of counseling has largely been the domain of psychology. Given the influence and orientation of the practice it would seem likely that philosophical counseling would be significantly different from the common conception of psychological counseling, but in what ways? Understanding how the practice lies in relation to the discipline of philosophy and psychological counseling will go some way to grasping its nature.

West University of Timisoara, 2021

The choice of pursuing a Master Program in Philosophical Counseling and Consultancy was motivated by my intention to reflect philosophically about my profession of systemic family psychotherapist and by my wish to acquire a set of practical skills that I could include in my professional activity-working with clients to stimulate their thinking, as well as gaining the capacity to examine my own work through critical and philosophical self-consultation. Philosophical practice shares a lot in common with psychotherapy and is in many ways the opposite of psychotherapy. Philosophical practice can have a psychotherapeutic effect as well as a destabilizing one, which raises an important question about what made the difference in how this type of counseling impacted clients' lives. Because of my prior trainings in symbolic-experiential and play psychotherapy, I took upon myself to examine the hypothesis that, although the process of philosophical consultation tends to follow specific patterns of systematic work, it actually determines a unique experience that bears symbolic meanings to the participants and therefore it is sometimes, for some, therapeutic and sometimes, for others or for the same ones, traumatizing. Thus the objective of my thesis became to undertake a philosophical examination of the very notion of psychotherapy, with special emphasis on metaphor, since the construction and deconstruction of client world-views take place within a relational dialogue that is meaningful to both clients and counselors in ways we should be able to understand. The consultation room is a metaphoric space in which the clients enact their conceptions of themselves and others, where the conversation can support philosophical discussions about anything while performatively it reflects and triggers meaningful symbolic experiences of the client's life. By learning to work with both metaphor and common sense, increasingly more of what we call therapeutic effect becomes accessible to our understanding, whether we are therapists, counselors or clients.