Book Review: Philosophical Counselling: Theory and Practice

Whilst the King's words are normally pretty sound advice, it would be a mistake to follow them when reading Raabe's book. Better would be 'Begin at the end, go backwards, and stop when you reach the beginning.' No, the book is not written in Hebrew, it's just that the book gets better and better the further it gets, and those who start at the end are more likely to get to the good things - and they are considerable - quickly. This is no accident, for the book gets more practical in its last third, and it's here that it really shines.

Philosophical Counselling is neatly divided into three parts. Part one ('Philosophy of Philosophical Counselling') starts with an overview of current theoretical conceptions of philosophical counselling (PC). It is nothing if not comprehensive, including discussions of all the 'usual suspects' like Gerd Achenbach and and Ran Lahav as well as lesser-known figures like Dries Boele, Michael Russell and David Jopling. Raabe is surely right when he says conceptions often conflict and that no one view prevails - even over the vexed question of whether Philosophical Counselling is therapy and how it differs from psychotherapy. Chapter 2 focuses on the methodologies of PC, which include dialogue, worldview interpretation and logic-based methods. Chapter 3 surveys the controversy over whether philosophical counselling is different from psychotherapy. Raabe rejects the idea that PC is a completely different beast from therapy - rightly pointing out that although it is very different from psychoanalysis, it is much less clearly distinct from REBT & existential therapy. So far so good, so why did I suggest leaving section 1 to last? The problem I had (and it could be just that I was already familiar with this material) is that it has too much of a text-book style - O level PC. What was missing for me was a deeper analysis of the ideas presented by various thinkers, or even an assessment of each writer's relative importance. This made it rather East Anglian - flat and dry.

It's not that Raabe is short of his own ideas, and in part 2 Raabe begins to present them. His answer to the question "What is PC?" is actually not very satisfying. His definition "a trained philosopher helping an individual deal with a problem or an issue that is of concern to that individual." (p.203) does not make it explicit whether the philosopher is trained in philosophy or counselling or both, or say anything about how clients are helped. As it stands, a professor of philosopher helping a friend do the crossword would count as PC! Things improve when Raabe proposes a 4 stage model of PC (p.129) - free-floating, immediate problem resolution, teaching as an intentional act and transcendence. These terms are I am sure self-explanatory except for 'transcendence'. Raabe explains what he means by this:- 'Having addressed the client's immediate problems, and the client's having reached a certain satisfying level of philosophical competence, the client and counselor may now find that their dialogue is reaching beyond the concrete particulars of the client's daily life and approaching questions of a more abstract or universal nature.' (p.159). I have found Raabe's 4 stages a useful model both when teaching philosophical counselling and also in my own practice. It is a good reminder that in its early stages PC is not so different from other forms of counselling, but also that when it does get to stages 3 and 4 – teaching and transcendence – it is very different. Raabe sticks his neck out in putting 'teaching as an intentional act' at stage 3, as it goes against many of counselling sacred cows. Yet, as Raabe asks on p.147 'How can a person who has never taken a course in philosophy be expected to resolve her problems by means of philosophical introspection and self-inquiry'. If it is to avoid being a 'quick-fix' where a philosopher expert 'solves' a problem in a couple of sessions, then, Raabe argues convincingly, for most non-philosophers some element of philosophical education is required.

In part 3. Raabe provides four varied case studies which show how PC works in practice. The first case, of Veronica's Pride, shows how in a single session Raabe uses conceptual analysis to help a client. This case illustrates only Raabe's stage 2 of Raabe's model (immediate problem resolution); case 2 shows all the stages in operation in 12 sessions. Yet the case I found most interesting – and extremely inspiring - was case 3, where Raabe describes Philosophical Group Counselling with a group of recovering addicts. Raabe was asked to provide 'clear, critical, creative reasoning' to 20-40 unemployed men, all addicts voluntarily in a recovery home Raabe's procedure was roughly this: Each week he would teach some elements of critical thinking (e.g. question-begging definitions and the either-or-fallacy) reinforcing them by asking the men to come up with examples of each fallacy and ways to respond to them. In the second part a discussion ensued on addiction (e.g. 'Are addicts responsible for their addiction') which, as the weeks went by, was increasingly informed by the philosophical skills being taught. 'The more fallacies the men became familiar with, the more empowered they felt; the more empowered they felt, the more their self-confidence grew; and the more their self-confidence grew, the more they were able to think clearly and deeply and to put their thoughts into meaningful words'. (p.261). In the fourth case, Raabe describes his work doing philosophy with children, which is interesting although perhaps stretching a point to call it 'counselling'. The book ends with 4 appendices on the stages, differences between therapy and PC, steps into an inquiry into the meaning of life and strategies for ethical decision-making, all of which are interesting. The latter two surely deserve a place in the main part of the book rather than just the appendix.

Philosophical counselling has been around for two decades now, and until now no major survey has appeared in the English language. Peter Raabe has produced a scholarly and comprehensive work, which, once one gets past Part I, is also very interesting. It is a book well-worth reading for all those interested in finding out more about philosophical counselling.

Tim LeBon