Book Review: Philosophy for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Pythagoras to Postmodernism

In spite of the glowing recommendations on the back cover from, among others, Dorothy Rowe, David Smail, Emmy van Deurzen, and Ernesto Spinelli, I found myself unexpectedly critical of Alex Howard's approach to his subject. Rather than an introduction to thinking philosophically in contrast to psychologically, or a review of philosophies underlying current therapy practice, the book is more accurately a 'rough guide' to the author's own opinions and convictions regarding philosophy, therapy, and society. Not that this is without any value, just that it was unexpected from the book's title and at times got in the way of having a clear shot at the original ideas myself. However, by the final few chapters, I began to realise that I had learned not only something about the views of major philosophers, interspersed with Howard's own, but I also gained from my silent arguments with Howard's assumptions, which at times I found somewhat dogmatic and unphilosophical in spirit. So, in the end I found the book useful as a furiously-paced tour (most philosophers get about 8 pages) through western philosophy and as a way of refining one's own philosophy by bouncing it off the author's ever-present point of view.

Philosophy for Counselling and Psychotherapy sets out to provide cursory rather than comprehensive introductions to 32 philosophers, with comments on how their ideas might influence the practice of counsellors, psychotherapists and healthcare workers. It presents a clear and basic exposition of each philosopher's main ideas, while tracing their influences and contrasting their conclusions with those of other thinkers. At times the connection with practising counselling and psychotherapy is quite explicit, and is evident in the 'Key Points' and 'Applications' sections that precede each chapter, or especially in the 'Questions' and 'Exercises' that summarise each chapter. This chapter layout gives the work an 'introductory textbook' feel which, although well organised and structured, could seem rather directive or even slightly patronising to some readers. Each chapter concludes with a short bibliography, and a very useful list of relevant websites.

Howard begins the book with an inspiring Introduction arguing that although our culture has advanced in science and technology,

Would our great-grandparents be so impressed and overawed with our moral sense? Our self-awareness? Our self-discipline? Our ability or willingness to co-operate, communicate, give and receive support?

He suggests that we need to return to the humanist culture of Classical Greece to begin to prepare 'a wider canvas' for our 'talking treatments' if they are going to do anything other than reinforce current social prejudices and assumptions. Howard argues that we must advance chronologically through the history of philosophy in order to understand how each thinker was influenced by what came before. Of course we are destined to read those ancient philosophers through the distortion of our contemporary world-view, but the hope seems to be that exposure to alien assumptions from another historical period will highlight to some extent what remains hidden in our own thought and practice. Howard acknowledges that he has not included a single woman among his 32 philosophers, offering the excuse that 'Philosophy has always been an extremely male activity and any major female philosophers, if they existed, have been very effectively hidden from history' (p.xv). Howard also confesses that he is not 'personally equipped' to present Eastern philosophies and thus the book is confined to western philosophy.

Chapter One presents the philosopher Pythagoras and his view that mathematics underlies the harmony of the universe. Howard uses Pythagoras to question the existence of a basic 'core' self, suggesting that 'self could be the result of 'the awesomely vast intricacy that is a body interacting with its environment' (p.4). This statement is very reminiscent of the philosophy of Eugene Gendlin¹, who unfortunately is not covered in Howard's text. The basic message of the first chapter challenges those of us who have an aversion to numbers,

We tend to assume that numbers are soulless and therefore irrelevant to psychology and our personal lives. But what if soul is an 'emergent' property arising from a universe whose language is number?

For existentially oriented therapists and counsellors, there is much in the first few chapters that will likely resonate. Many of the most venerable figures in western philosophy, such as Heraclitus, Sophocles, Socrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, Spinoza, and Schopenhauer (plus all the usual names) have some affinity with the spirit of existential therapy, and this could boost the confidence of those of us having to respond to the contemporary narrowed vision that values only what can be measured in terms of evidence-based research and clinical outcomes.

Heraclitus taught that everything was in flux, and since there are no permanent boundaries, everything is interconnected. He emphasised 'process' rather than 'objects' and concluded 'we are not so much in the world as of the world' (p. 10). We are "being-of-the-world" and 'it is not that we move through life; life flows through us' (ibid.). In his discussion of Sophocles, Howard suggests that 'Greek tragedy can show a more sophisticated understanding of the human predicament than contemporary psychology' and that Freud's account of Oedipus was significantly flawed and 'lacks the complex subtlety of the Sophoclean Oedipus' (p. 17).

Howard provides a number of quotable quotes from each selected philosopher. An example from Aristotle; 'The utter vulgarity of the herd of men comes out in their preference for the sort of existence a cow leads' (p.40). This reminds me of a paper by the Norwegian existentialist Herman Tennessen² entitled 'Happiness is for the pigs' in which he argues that humans should strive to realise their full 'humanity' at whatever cost to their personal attempts to be 'well adjusted' etc.

Howard also presents a number of Christian philosophers, including St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and George Berkeley. In the chapter on Luther, Howard offers his version of yet another comparison between psychoanalysis and Catholicism,

...psychodynamic therapy is the secular equivalent of Catholicism. It is hierarchical, requires long training, the interpretations of its priesthood are to be accepted by an ignorant laity, there can be no discussion among equals since the laity are not equal either in knowledge or insight and there is no way of progressing far without expert assistance. Just as you cannot find God without the Catholic Church, so you could not find 'yourself' without psychoanalysis.

This acknowledgement of knowledge as a source of power in therapy highlights the fact that Howard has not included either Foucault, who had so much to say on this topic, or Habermas, who saw psychoanalysis as a possible 'depth hermeneutic' in his project of social 'emancipation'. These two philosophers must surely figure among the most influential of this century and both have ready-made applications to our professions. Instead, Howard chose to include chapters on Freud and Jung, both eminent 'psychologists' and analysts, but philosophers?

In extrapolating John Locke's concern regarding the human prejudice for self-interest, Howard suggests that the BAC be renamed 'British Association for Counsellors' and further,

Therefore operating as a check and a balance, a British Association for Clients (in counselling) would need to be created to act as a watchdog, and kerb the inevitable excesses, arrogance, defensiveness, and self-regard that a group of counsellors are bound to develop when acting to preserve and promote their own interests

Although I find this an intriguing and welcome idea, I wonder whether the significant overlap in membership between the two organisations wouldn't hinder the one from being an effective deterrent on the other. However, this remains one of a number of thought-provoking practical implications for our profession that Howard forms out of the various philosophies he presents.

Although Howard suggests that being a 'consistent existentialist' may require denying that you are an existentialist, the last few chapters, on Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Sartre, are presented quite sympathetically. For example, he points out that Wittgenstein did not want to establish a 'school' of philosophy.

He feared that mediocrity would misunderstand and trivialise what he was trying to do, or turn it into a set of wooden procedures that would serve no useful purpose. For Wittgenstein, every moment in the study of (the doing of) philosophy was an existential moment. We had to be alive to the whole broad and intricate circumstance under investigation, with our whole being and without (unexamined) presupposition. Less brilliant disciples might not manage this.

In his chapter on Heidegger, Howard suggests that if Heidegger's ideas are right, then all our fundamental common-sense assumptions about counselling must be abandoned,

There is no 'outside', 'detached', 'objective' stance available to counsellors or anyone else. We are part of the pattern of human life rather than outside observers of it... Heidegger's is a dynamic world, whose motion, emotion, time and space is what we are rather than what we are in.

Although Howard does not like Sartre as much as Heidegger or Wittgenstein, and as I have said, Howard makes his preferences quite clear, I still felt there were instances where the author presented Sartre's philosophical concerns eloquently and concisely, as in 'Being-for-itself was that restless spirit that moved on from whatever we had made of ourselves' (p.342).

The last chapter introduces 'postmodernism' and is entitled, 'What next?' - to be read as 'oh my god, what will they think of next?' in that Howard seems quite despairing of the whole menagerie of post-modern philosophy. It may be a bit facile to state that post-modern attempts to deconstruct rationality and objectivity have been demolished on the grounds that 'absurdity is the inevitable consequence of taking irrationalism or anti-rationalism seriously' (p.366). That seems tantamount to beseeching everyone to 'be reasonable!' without providing any reasonable reason why anyone should. Again, I was disappointed that there was no mention of the work of philosophers from the 1997 'After Post-Modernism Conference' in America. Their attempts to incorporate and move beyond the current impasse in philosophy is exciting and of certain relevance to counsellors and therapists.

In his concluding chapter, Howard says that philosophy already implicitly underlies much of our training as counsellors and therapists,

For example, cognitive behavioural therapy imports huge quantities of Stoic teaching. Humanist therapy incorporates Rousseau on a considerable scale. Existential approaches utilize Sartre but not enough perhaps of Heidegger, or Nietzsche or Kierkegaard

In my experience, Sartre was given short shrift in my existential training, and Heidegger was, perhaps understandably, presented as the main philosopher for any existential-phenomenological therapist. But whatever the minor inconsistencies, significant frustrations, and occasional misrepresentations, I feel this book remains a major accomplishment. At the very least, Howard has helped to maintain the liberal humanist view as a major influence on future developments within counselling and psychotherapy. He concludes,

If this book serves any important purpose it will be because it provides one tiny contribution in helping to keep humanism alive and well without being complacent about its difficulties, complexities, and limitations

References

After Post-Modernism Conference. Proceedings and Papers (1997). See website http://www.focusing.org/apm.htm

Foucault, M. (1965). Madness and Civilisation. New York: Vintage.

Gendlin, E.T. (1962). Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning. New York: Free Press

Gendlin, E.T. (1981). Focusing, Second Edition. New York: Bantam Books.

Gendlin, E.T. (1996). Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy. New York: The Guilford Press.

Habermas, J. (1972). Knowledge and Human Interests. Trans. Jeremy J. Shapiro. London: Heineman

Naess, A. (1984). A Sceptical Dialogue on Induction. Methodology and Science Vol.3. Oslo: Van Gorcum Ltd.

Tennessen, H. (1974). Happiness is for the Pigs and Miscellaneous Afterthoughts; The Serio-comic Encounter of Clinical Psychology and Existential Philosophy. Edmonton: U of Alberta Press.

Zappffe, P.W. (1941). Om Det Tragiske. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.

Greg Madison