Philosophical Counseling

The Journey

     Life is an interesting thing. It has it's ups, downs, joys and sorrows. Most of us want to live a happy life. We want a good life. However, life has many unexpected events which are out of our control. Just because bad or unexpected things happen to us or the people and things we care for, does not mean we cannot have a good life.

Self-Reflection

     People may need to break away from old patterns that cause problems and create new habits that promote solutions. If we reflect, some of us have been following what others expect us to do and we never got that chance to become the person we really are; the person inside of us waiting to grow. Others have been doing what they think is right, however, something is still missing. When following our own or others’ expectations, it can seem like chaos when we don’t get what or where we want. It's important to realize that we have control to bring order to the chaos.

Cosmos

     The Cosmos is where we live; a universe with order. Humanity has survived because we found a way to understand the consistency that actually exists in this universe. Our states of mind, the things and people we love, and the joy, fun and frustration, are all part of that universe. There is order behind it all. If there is order, we can follow some simple rules or guidelines to get what we want and what we need.

The Right Approach

     The difficulty is when we lack the tools to solve specific problems or knowing what the problem really is. Some of us know what we want but not how to get it, whereas others still feel misguided and crave to just know who they are and what they want. Whether it is a loved one who is lost, anxiety or depression, anger and sadness, not feeling fulfilled with one’s career, problems with our intimate relationship, growing up as a teen or parenting children and teens, problems with family and friends, addictions, spiritual conflict and functioning and flourishing in school, with the right approach and training, one can find a path to the life they want. There is a way to deal with all of these things and feel good at the same time. It can be a great help, if there was someone who was able to make what was foggy clear.

Understanding

     There are times when we need someone we trust, someone who understands, and someone who will listen. We need people in our lives that can see the bigger picture when we are stuck in the details and our emotions. We don’t need someone to label us as crazy for thinking a certain way or wanting to do things differently. There is a person who can help us, it is a  counselor.

Wisdom-Action

     Counsellors advise us, offer recommendations and suggest a course of action. We want the best, someone with a deeper understanding who can deal with our issue or problem so we are able to move on; we want someone who has wisdom. Philosophy is defined as the love of wisdom. So, a philosopher who is also a counsellor may be our best bet. What we really need is a Philosophical Counselor.

Well-Being

     Philosophical Counseling is a means to help others achieve a durable sense of well-being in their lives. A Philosophical Counselor has the capacity to help an individual change the course of their life in the direction they intend for it to progress by breaking down assumptions, beliefs, habits, attitudes and behaviours through discussion and observation. The counselor is effectively giving the client autonomy over their life by helping the client gain control over elements that affect them and have an effect on them.

Identity

     It is also important to equip oneself with knowledge, principles and tools to achieve the end of realistic, resilient happiness and well-being. The Philosophical Counselor is prepared to find and teach the necessary skills and tools required for the client’s well-being and a sense of balance with their identity.

Reasoning Process

     The rules of reason apply to both the counsellor and the client, making a fair exchange of ideas possible without appeal to authority. Teaching these reasoning rules is part of the method and responsibility of the counselor.

     My model of Philosophical Counselling utilizes the reasoning process of evaluating evidence and making sense of that evidence with a theory. The client and counselor are then able to make progress in the client’s endeavours relative to the client's current skill set, knowledge base and state of mind. As the client improves on these attributes, they will eventually no longer need the support of the counselor effectively growing from the client-counselor relationship. The goal of the method is to train the client to become independent and self-maintaining in terms of their own mental health.

Training and Practice

    The counselor will make educated recommendations on how the client can solve specific problems from a general framework. The scientific problem of induction means that not every attempt will work and the counsellor is not to be blamed for unfulfilled expectations. It is the duty of the client to understand that changing one’s life takes training and practice. With training constructive habits, a developed knowledge set and a realistic perspective, the client can easily attain the goals they desire.

Freedom

     The counselor may offer tools for the client to utilize, however the responsibility on how those tools are used falls on the client. The counselor will respect the autonomy of the client in terms of the tools offered by ensuring that the client is knowledgeable, competent and has the freedom to do otherwise. The counselor wants to make sure that the client understands the principles and tools they are learning and how to apply them to their lives.

Philosophical Counselling Method

     The Philosophical Counselling Method uses the rules of reason to apply to both the counsellor and the client, making a fair exchange of ideas possible without appeal to authority. Teaching these reasoning rules are part of the method and responsibility of the counsellor.

     Achilles Justice’s model of Philosophical Counselling utilizes the reasoning process of evaluating evidence and making sense of that evidence with a theory. The client and counsellor are then able to make progress in the client’s endeavours relative to the client's current skill set, knowledge base and state of mind. As the client improves on these attributes, they will eventually no longer need the support of the counsellor effectively growing from the client-counsellor relationship. The goal of the method is to train the client to become independent and self-maintaining in terms of their own mental health awareness.

     The Philosophical Counsellor will make educated recommendations on how the client can solve specific problems from a general framework. The scientific problem of induction means that not every attempt will work and the counsellor is not to be blamed for unfulfilled expectations. It is the duty of the client to understand that changing one’s life takes training and practice. With training constructive habits, a developed knowledge set and a realistic perspective, the client can easily attain the goals they desire.

    The Philosophical Counsellor may offer tools for the client to utilize, however the responsibility on how those tools are used falls on the client. The counsellor will respect the autonomy of the client in terms of the tools offered by insuring that the client is knowledgeable, competent and has the freedom to do otherwise. The counsellor wants to make sure that the client understands the principles and tools they are learning and how to apply them to their lives.

     The Philosophical Counsellor has the capacity to help an individual change the course of their life in the direction they intend for it to progress by breaking down assumptions, beliefs, habits, attitudes and behaviours through discussion and observation. The counsellor is effectively giving the client autonomy over their life by helping the client gain control over elements that affect them and have an effect on them.

Achilles Justice Philosophical Counselling assumes that the client is engaged in their own self-therapeutic process for the counsellor does not offer psychotherapy. The Philosophical Counsellor will refer to types of psychotherapy from a philosophical perspective, discussing what the meaning of specific types of therapy, where the therapy originated from, parts of the theory, and an assessment of the philosophy of science regarding the theory. The purpose of discussing the philosophy of psychotherapy is so that the client can utilize wisdom from the various therapeutic practices for their own self-therapeutic healing process.

     An assumption within Achilles Justice’s version of Philosophical Counselling is that every person must decide from within to heal themselves, including any relationship from a mental health professional. Achilles Justice Philosophical Counselling assumes that therapy, defined as a treatment to heal or relieve a disorder, is something that the client must do with their own awareness, agency, and actions towards their thoughts, attitudes, perspectives, behaviours, habits, social affiliations and environments. The role of the Philosophical Counsellor is to be an external observer who assists in this self-therapeutic process with the use of an empirical and scientific approach that helps the client make modification in any and all domains that will increase their wellbeing and mental health.

     Aside from the use of reason and critical thinking, ancient greek philosophers have a paramount role to assist the Philosophical Counsellor. Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius are some of the predominant philosophers that are drawn upon when determining principles to guide a course of action or decision making process in the pursuit of wellbeing and mental health. There are some other philosopher’s from the history of philosophy that yield insight, like Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher’s of mind like Daniel Dennett, and cognitive scientists is Thomas Metzinger who fill in theoretical gaps to create the comprehensive theory that Achilles Justice Philosophical Counselling practice is founded upon.

Client Counsellor Relationship

     Philosophical Counselling assumes that the client is engaged in their own self-therapeutic process for the counsellor does not offer psychotherapy.

     The client-counselor relationship is like a professional relationship between two scientists. The scientists agree on some hypothesis then try to disprove it, bringing their theories in closer approximation to reality or the truth. This scientific model is analogous to how the client-counsellor relationship will function.

     An imbalance in this relationship exists in the case that the counselor has more experience in this type of discussion, more education on specific subjects, access to private information of the client, and the counselor is of sound mind and emotionally stable. This imbalance is what makes the relationship between the client and the counselor professional and the counselor must respect the autonomy and rights of the client. The professional status holds that confidentiality and social boundaries must be kept between the client and counselor to alleviate the imbalance.

     Due to the nature of the client-counselor relationship, no sexual relationship will ever exist since the client is in distress, the power imbalance of a dual relationship, and it is illegal. The stringent boundaries on relationships between client and counsellor exist to protect the client and the counsellor from abuse.

     The confidentiality must not be compromised in the spectrum of a social relationship. The counselor must keep in secret the information disclosed in the counseling sessions and the nature of the client-counselor relationship. The client decides what is confidential and has the right to discuss the contents of the professional relationship with others. The counselor must keep in confidence any and all information unless otherwise specified.

     The counseling sessions come to an end usually by the will of the client or if the client has problems that arise which are out of the counselor’s scope. If so, the counsellor will recommend the client to see an alternative healthcare practitioner who is qualified to help the client. The other thing which will lead to termination of the counseling relationship is if the client becomes violent, uses threats, verbally or physically, or harasses the counselor, their staff, or their family. The counselor retains the right to terminate the counseling relationship if these problems occur. The client always has a right to refuse any recommendations the counselor offers.

Confidentiality

     The only time the counselor will break confidentiality is if someone, yourself or another, is in imminent danger of harm, the intent to cause harm, the existence of child abuse, or legal obligations. Confidentiality applies to spoken, electronic or any other medium information is transmitted. Emails are not necessarily completely confidential because information is kept in the log of your internet service provider and could be read by system administrator(s). An administrator is very unlikely to read emails however it is important to be aware of the risk. All emails receives will be kept safeguarded so that the information is protected from unwanted viewers.

     The counselor will respect the confidentiality of the client, unless consent to include another individual in the sessions is given in writing to the counselor by the client. This can be used for group counseling or having someone join the discussion(s). All information disclosed by the client is strictly confidential.

     If two or more people are being counseled during one session, what is said in that session is confidential to those during that session. If, in the future, group members choose to have independent sessions, only the group session is open for discussion to those specific clients. Confidentiality is limited to those who participate and thus a client cannot inquire about other clients’ individual counseling sessions unless otherwise specified by both parties.

     Records will be kept by the counselor as a memory aid, to use for further research and as an integral part of the structured counselling process. All of these records are available to you and corrections can be made to the records if an error has occurred. If you are not interested in having records kept, this type of evidence based counseling may not be right for you. Keeping objective records is extremely important as they are used as data to build the theory the counselor and client use to assist the client. If you go to another healthcare provider, you may request those records be sent to that person.

Are there Risks?

     The client understands that dealing with sensitive issues may harbour negative emotions. The counselor is prepared to deal with any issues/problems, within the scope of the counselor’s ability, using the Philosophical Counseling method. The client understands that the counseling sessions are voluntary and any decisions made on the client’s part are their responsibility alone.

     The client understands that the nature of counseling can bring about negative emotions. There is a risk of experiencing negative emotions during the sessions but, if properly dealt with, the client can break through the obstructions limiting their happiness and overall well-being. This risk, that the client will face negative emotions, does exist and the counselor is not liable due to the emotional nature which illuminates itself during counseling. The counselor’s role is to help guide the client through the emotional turmoil such that the client regains control.

Client Responsibilities

     The client has certain responsibilities to the counselor and the agreement they share. The counselor will hold scheduled discussions/sessions with the client. These sessions will predominantly take place over the phone or virtually. Having phone call sessions as the primary medium of counselling allows the counselor and client to not have to be in the same geographical location as well save time and money on transportation.

     The client must be on time for the scheduled session. The counsellor has the right to terminate the session if the client is not of sound mind. The client and counsellor must give the other 24hrs notice if a cancellation or rescheduling is needed. If the client is late, the session will still end at the same time. If the client does not cancel within the 24 hour timeframe, the client will be charged for the time the counsellor has set aside. The 24h window does not apply in emergency situations. If there is an emergency, the client must contact 911, CAMH or Toronto Distress Center.

     The sessions must be paid in advance for the scheduled time block. If the client pays for sessions in advance or has a payment plan, the client will reserve a spot. Counseling is not covered by insurance so the fee must be covered by the client.

     The counsellor is willing to address text messages or emails but cannot guarantee prompt response. During the counselling sessions, the client will be reminded of when the session is about to expire.

Feedback

     Both positive and negative feedback is important for the counsellor to have a better sense of what works and what needs improvement. If there is something that you found very helpful, let the counsellor know. If you are unsatisfied with any part of the counselling process, you are encouraged to bring it to my attention right away. This feedback will allow me to improve and critically evaluate my own methods but it will also aid you as I can respond to your query in time.

Counselling Fees

     Philosophical Counselling with Achilles is set at a rate of 250$/h. All rates will be agreed between both the counsellor and the client in advance.

Referrals

     If you referred someone to the counsellor, you receive a 30 minute scheduled counselling session, valued at 125$ at no charge. The counseling session will take place once the explication of services and confidentiality documents are signed.

Agreement

     I, the client, understand the above conditions which outline the relationship and contract for Philosophical Counseling by Achilles Atlas Justice. I agree to make payments in advance for sessions and be ready to engage in sessions on time. I understand that the counselor, Achilles Atlas Justice, is not liable for decisions I make from the sessions and I hold responsibility for my actions. I understand that if I need help in an emergency I must contact 911.

Informed Consent

     By reading this document, I have decided on the services by Achilles Atlas Justice for Philosophical Counseling. I am also acknowledging that I am of sound mind when I am reading this agreement for I must understand the consequences of my actions and the limitations of counseling. I have read the explication of services document which explains what philosophical counseling is and what my responsibilities are.

     I believe that Achilles Atlas Justice’s Philosophical Counseling is the best decision for me at this time because it will be very helpful for me to solve my personal or life issues and problems. I hereby certify that I am of legal age of consent according to federal and provincial laws of Ontario Canada or have my legal guardian consent for me.

     I understand that confidentiality is of the utmost importance to the counselor and the client. All content which is discussed will be kept confidential, as specified in the explication of services document for philosophical counseling, unless harm will come to me, another person, the existence of child abuse, or legal obligations is determined. If I am seriously considering suicide, Philosophical Counselling will not be appropriate for me at this time and I must contact 911 immediately.

Legal Disclaimer

     By reading this document and signing and submitting the Achilles Justice Client Consent Form, I agree that specific situations are inappropriate for philosophical counseling like emergencies. If I am in an emergency I must call 911 immediately or find help from an appropriate health care practitioner.

Emergency Situations Include:

- Thoughts of hurting or killing myself or another person

- Hallucinations (seeing or hearing things others do not)

- Mental health status that has put me or my loved ones in inappropriate, unhealthy, unsanitary, or dangerous living conditions

- Any kind of life threatening situations

- Currently abusing or addicted to alcohol, prescriptions drugs, or dangerous street drugs

     Signing and submitting the Achilles Justice Client Consent Form to Achilles Atlas Justice displays I acknowledge that if I feel suicidal now or at any future point,

     I must contact 911 or

     the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1 800 273 TALK (8255)

Philosophical Counseling Service

     I have read and understand the Explication of Services document and the Informed Consent and Legal Disclaimer document which provides a summary of the limitations and the scope of the Philosophical Counseling provided by Achilles Atlas Justice. I give Achilles Atlas Justice permission to be my Philosophical Counselor. Achilles Atlas Justice will not be held responsible for consequences of any plans, actions and/or results of actions I decide.

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