Life and experience
Questions of life and questions about life can tend to concern survival as much as the questions of what is beyond life and the world that we experience.
In philosophical counseling, the questions of life, of reason, the art of living, and the inherent ethics, are given just as much space as the questions of finiteness. What exists beyond physical life is the métier of metaphysics.
Philosophical counseling does not involve judgments being made. It simply offers these questions some room to breathe – a forum for discourse with the means of philosophy.
Questioning
Asking questions means striving for knowledge. In Greek, the word “Philosophy” means “the love of wisdom”. Nowadays, we have the Internet which offers us Wikipedia as well as countless blogs and discussion forums. These websites appear to offer answers to everything. The monologues and multilogues of our information society refer the questioner back to the lonely sensation of attempting to ask questions in what feels like an ocean of endless answers.
Philosophy and psychotherapy
Philosophical counseling always relates to individual questions by using the means of philosophy and, where it is understandable to do so, the methods of psychotherapy.
Which methods are applied?
Empathic listening in a client-centered therapy approach (Rogers) is just as much a part of this as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) in the event of emerging trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, hypnosis therapy and body symptom-based work can help in terms of overcoming fears and phobias. Furthermore, it assists in activating resources for improved self-esteem and helps to act against stress and exhaustion.
Eclectically, I only use the methods that I have mastered, and which I feel appropriate, and I also support you in learning resource activation, strengthening your resilience, and providing you with relaxation techniques.