Philosophy's Role in Counseling and Psychotherapy

By (author) Peter Raabe

Publication date:

26 November 2013

Length of book:

416 pages

Publisher

Jason Aronson, Inc.

ISBN-13: 9780765709172

In Philosophy's Role in Counseling and Psychotherapy, Peter Raabe argues that philosophy is an effective method in treating mental illness. Calling for a paradigm shift away from the standard belief that the brain and mind are identical Raabe argues that so-called “mental illnesses” such as depression and schizophrenia are not the actual causes of psychological misery. Instead, they are just labels for symptoms. For example, the word “depression” is merely a label attached to a collection of symptoms such as sadness, hopelessness, and low self-esteem. Raabe posits that distressing or painful life events can cause symptoms that are often clinically labeled as the mental illness of depression. The suffering brought on by painful life events can often be alleviated with helpful discussions, and without resorting to medications. Because philosophy is the foremost form of discussion, it means that the suffering that is labeled mental illness can be treated and even cured with philosophy. Raabe ultimately concludes that philosophy is beneficial in three ways: it can prevent the onset of a so-called mental illness in the person who studies it, it can be used to help individuals suffering from the distress that is labeled “mental illness,” and it will enhance the competence of the counselor or therapist who practices it.

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I: Psychotherapy at the Start of the 21^st Century
Chapter 1: Problematic Paradigms
Chapter 2: Problematic Practices
Chapter 3: Contemporary Modality

Part II: Philosophy as Therapy
Chapter 4: Past Precedence
Chapter 5: The Clinic’s Appropriation of Philosophy
Chapter 6: Psycho-therapeutic Philosophy in Psychotherapy
Chapter 7: Preventive (Prophylactic) Philosophy

Part III: Application
Chapter 8: An Education Plan
Chapter 9: Teaching ‘Sanity’
Chapter 10: Three Case Studies
Chapter 11: Recovery, Cure, and Philosophy

Appendix: Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Bibliography

I heartily recommend this book to all students whose aim is to work in the field of mental healthcare. Philosophy's Role in Counseling and Psychotherapy could also be very helpful for the general public in raising awareness of how philosophy may show the way out of some of the mental dilemmas and distress created and caused by the self and society. I can recommend this easily readable, understandable and yet very authoritative book for anyone who is interested in mental healthcare. But, this book is especially of interest for academicians and the students of psychology, counseling, psychiatry and philosophy who wants to have a better understanding of the nature of mental health and its relevance to philosophical insights from early Greeks to our day. I believe it will make an excellent textbook and a source book for scholars.