Philosophy's Role in Counseling and Psychotherapy

This book restores the philosophical wonder of theorizing about psychotherapy. Peter Raabe presents different dilemmas of the helping professions in a dignified and humane way by making problematic issues questionable and understandable. With this dose of philosophy in clinical encounters, professional and would-be therapists alike might be more attuned to finding just solutions for human predicaments. Philosophy's Role in Counseling and Psychotherapy could also be helpful for the general public in raising awareness of how philosophy may show the way out of some of the mental prisons created by the self and society. -- Shlomit C. Schuster, PhD, author of Philosophy Practice: An Alternative to Counseling and Psychotherapy Professor Peter Raabe analyzes conceptual confusions, methodological flaws, logical fallacies, and biased considerations that are committed by psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, and psychotherapists when they are interpreting and treating mental suffering according to a medical model. His proposed paradigm shift is the philosophical counseling approach. The impact of philosophy is indeed already present in any sort of psychotherapy and counseling that takes into account the specific nature of the mental domain and deals with subjective contents and attitudes that interfere with the client's ability to cope well in situations that are problematic from his perspective. The founders had knowingly adopted philosophical ideas. Professor Raabe maintains, however, that the impact itself is insufficient, as regular psychotherapists and counselors usually do not have the philosophical knowledge and skills that are necessary for their effective application. Raabe demonstrates his counseling approach in many inspiring ways and thereby exemplifies the richness of the philosophical arsenal in helpful questions and effective tools. This is a good source of wisdom even for psychiatrists that do not share all the anti-medical conclusions and a real challenge even for philosophers that do not share all the philosophical premises. -- Ora Gruengard, PhD, Shenkar College