Foundations of Philosophical Counseling

Abstract

Introduction: Education, Counseling, and (Psycho-)Therapy as Special Ways of LearningWe human beings are learning creatures; at best we continue learning until old age. The most impressive effects come from learning through immediate contact with individuals-through education and training, initially within the family, through parents and relations and later at school or in university through professionally trained teachers.Beside these ongoing ways of learning in family and institutions, we may repeatedly encounter situations, difficulties or problems where our own competence (or that of relatives and friends) is insufficient for coping with these situations. For instance, in the case of illness we draw upon the help of 'experts' in the form of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment.However, there are also many problems which are not considered classifiable ailments and diseases for which attempts may be made to contact a person in order to profit from his/her competence in a certain field. This is referred to as counseling in contrast to therapy, the latter being defined as treatment of physical or psychological disturbances, meaning that a certain expertise or knowledge is placed at the disposal of other people to assist them in overcoming certain difficulties or nleeting certain challenges.Counseling takes place frequently in daily life, regardless of what it is called (asking for advice, for help, or a simple discussion regarding a difficult situation, etc.). Professional counseling offers certain skills/expertise, usually acquired by the counselor via some kind of study or training. Professional counselors often have a background in social work, education, the social sciences, psychology etc. Their knowledge is based on the experience of people who have worked in the field of counseling as weIl as on empirical studies which have investigated the conditions of helpful, facilitative interaction in such counseling situations. Education, counseling, and therapy thus comprise three basic forms of learning with and from people. (Therapy as treatment in this context especial-Iy relates to psychotherapy.) In childhood we necessarily depend on such contacts; as adults we usually decide for ourselves when we need 'further' education (training or adult education), counseling or psychotherapy, or want

A Review and Critical Analysis of Philosophical Counseling.

“…Perhaps even more advantageous may be an awareness across professions that psychology and philosophy are often inextricably intertwined in practical problems. Developing a broad competence involving expertise and cooperation across disciplinary lines may thus be optimal (Robertson, 1998;Ruschmann, 1998;Shipley & Leal, 2002). As Evans (1984Evans ( -1985 suggested, perhaps to paraphrase and update Plato's famous claim, our human troubles will never cease unless "either philosophers become clinical psychologists or those whom we now call our psychologists take the pursuit of philosophy seriously and adequately, and there is conjunction of two things, therapeutic skills and philosophical intelligence" (p. 134).…”

“…Although philosophical counselors draw on both the mental health professions and academic philosophy, they strive to demarcate their profession's boundaries in relationship to both (Ruschmann, 1998). They sometimes sharply distinguish philosophical counseling from psychotherapy, for example.…”

“…On the other hand, Duane (2004) reported that many academic philosophers have “an almost visceral revulsion at the very idea of philosophical counseling” (p. 37). Philosophical counselors thus differentiate themselves from academic philosophers who, in general, “overlook the problems of daily life” (Ruschmann, 1998, p. 34).…”