About Philosophical Counseling

There are many difficult issues that arise in the course of a normal human life. These may be concrete immediate problems, or more general concerns about life. You may be facing a difficult decision, about a relationship, or a career, or be confronted with a difficult ethical dilemma. Perhaps you are not sure anymore where you stand in relation to the religion you were raised in, or what is the meaning life in general and your life in particular. You may experience dissatisfaction with the way things are but feel unable to express its nature clearly. In such and similar situations it may be important to pause, look inwardly, and try to gain a deeper understanding of yourself, your life, your goals and your values. The Philosophical counselor is there to help you articulate these issues as clearly as possible, thus helping towards their resolution. Together you can think and work through the issues facing you, try to clarify and articulate them, consider the different options and way of looking at them, and try to resolve them in the best possible way.

 

Philosophical counselors tend to be intelligent listeners and thinkers, with interest in the human existence and life issues, who have spent much time thinking  and learning about such matters. They also tend to be good at clarification and analysis. This is a significant part of their training and way of thinking. In addition, discussions of life issues very quickly lead to philosophical themes, such as the meaning of life, identity, morality, happiness, faith and doubt, goals and values, conflicts and decision processes, love and friendship, sexuality, marriage and family, etc. These themes have been intensely examined, thought about and discussed by philosophers for thousands of years.

Some of the things which may typically take place during philosophical consultations are:  looking carefully into and examining underlying assumptions, attitudes, motives and emotions. Checking the sources of underlying beliefs: are they rational, or do they originate in something other than evidence?

Trying to articulate and make sense of emotions, thus preparing the way to dealing with them. Trying to identify and clarify goals, values and concerns: who are you really? what is it that you are really looking for? what is important to you? We may also discuss philosophical insights and theories and occasionally refer to relevant philosophical works.

Such an inquiry  is facilitated by questioning and challenging, suggesting and exploring different possibilities, using thought experiments, identifying tensions and contradictions, analysing, weighing, clarifying, etc. - all of which philosophers tend to be quite adept at by training and disposition.