Book Review: Wise Therapy: Philosophy for Counsellors

The recognition that philosophy has something of value to add to therapy is by no means new. Humanistic therapy, logotherapy and existential therapy have all acknowledged their debt to philosophy. Indeed to many practitioners the philosophical dimension is the implicit basis upon which their therapeutic encounters can occur. For the client however, philosophy may not appear at all, at least not in any explicit way. It may even be fair to say that to date most mainstream therapies have been happy to keep philosophy in the background, as if any mention of philosophical underpinnings will hinder rather than benefit clients in distress.

This situation is however changing. Cognitive behaviour therapy is probably the most dramatic example of this shift with a clear focus on the transparency of the model. More recently and with slightly different aims, philosophical counselling has emerged as an explicit attempt to apply the insights of philosophical thinking to the difficulties and dilemmas that individuals may bring to a therapist.

Tim LeBon's book fits into this general shift in thinking and is a fascinating workbook for therapists and clients, backed up by a thorough degree of philosophical acuity. Moreover the task LeBon has set himself is not simply the explication of various philosophically oriented approaches to therapy, but an attempt to present a form of 'integrative therapy' based on acceptable philosophical theories and techniques. LeBon is explicit that this book is a statement of where such a project stands at the current time. How well does such a project work?

The book is conveniently split into two sections. The first part 'Ethics' deals with well-being and right and wrong and by virtue of its subject matter is complex. The second part 'The Emotions, Reason and the Meaning of Life' covers these areas and also provides what LeBon has called 'The Counsellor's Philosophical Toolbox.' The strength of this separation may not be apparent, but it does give the book a very solid philosophical basis which is then applied in an extremely practical way.

As a statement of where LeBon's project is at the moment I think the book is an important beginning and one that lays the foundation for their work. While it was clearly an important part of LeBon's remit to provide a clear rationale for his project and therefore the inadequacy of other approaches, this material is of necessity of a more academic nature. For those therapists who want to apply sound philosophical reasoning to their sessions, this will provide an extremely thorough background, but may also put others off. The trade-off is that LeBon provides plenty of approaches that those interested in applying philosophical principles could use.

I think there are potentially three audiences for this book. Firstly there are those who want to gain a critical overview of philosophy and counselling. Secondly there are those who want to gain some practical tools for applying philosophical ideas with clients. The final group are those that are interested in the application of a coherent philosophical model to their work. There is no doubt that the book provides for the first two audiences admirably. For those in the third group, there is going to be a period of waiting. This is a book that of necessity sets the scene, provides the rationale and suggests ways of integrating philosophical insights and practical therapy. As the beginning of a project it is an admirable start.

R.G. Hill