Philosophical Foundations of Psychotherapy promotes a critical understanding of the ideas, traditions, values, and principles that inform and shape – for better or for worse – what therapists do.
The book challenges the unhelpful misconception that philosophy is for philosophers alone, because human reality is too complex for therapists to be unaware of the foundations, difficulties, and contradictions within our value systems, ethics, and assumptions. By retrieving attitudes from other times and other places, traversing the relational contours of history right up to contemporary thinkers and practitioners, the author argues that not only do relationships heal, but they offer the only safe harbour in life’s sea of troubles. He promotes a conscientious radical relationality, which remains attentive to its influences, including contemporary debates about our neoliberal selves, the superstructures of culture, and the ethics of authenticity. In stepping back from the sometimes- narrow concerns of our therapeutic methods, the book explores broader themes important for living well: what is the good of therapy, how do we reconcile our sense of futility in the face of an indifferent universe, postcolonial debates, responses to disembodied artificial intelligence, and alternatives to our human- centred stance towards Nature.
This book is primarily for practitioners, trainees, and educators, but ultimately it is intended for the greater good of clients and those interested in what therapeutic practices and practitioners have to offer. It will also be useful for those teaching research methods, the practice of research supervision, reflexivity, and personal development, across all areas related to mental health.
By:
James Costello
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 660g
ISBN: 9781032499512
ISBN 10: 1032499516
Series: Advances in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
Pages: 254
Publication Date: 23 December 2024
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Philosophical Foundations 1.1. Psychotherapy & Philosophy – The Serpent and its Tail 1.2. The Good of Therapy 1.3. Self as Orientation 1.4. The Characteristics of Radical Relationality 2. A Good Life 2.1. Introduction: On Being Philosophical 2.2. From the Celestial to the Terrestrial 2.3. Epicurus, Zeno, and Psychotherapy 2.4. Stoicism and Cognitive Therapy 3. Reason and Belief 3.1. Introduction: This is Water 3.2. Jerusalem - Inward Lies the Road to God 3.3. Athens - Disengaged Reason 3.4. Secular Pastoral Care 4. Individualism: The Atomised Self 4.1. Introduction: The Transcended Animal 4.2. The Humane and the Humanistic 4.3. Antihumanism: God is Dead 4.4. Nonhumanism: A Relational Vision 5. Freedom - Ethics and Existentialis 5.1. Introduction: Old Solutions to New Problems 5.2. The Myth of Moral Neutrality in Therapy 5.3. Existentialism & Choice 5.4. Virtue & Moral Realism 6. Meaning: A Reassuring Foundation 6.1. Introduction: The Play of Meaning 6.2. Freedom and Autonomy – Romantic Delusions 6.3. Structuralism and Identity 6.4. Language and the Emergence of Meaning 7. Stories: Fragmented Selves 7.1. Introduction: Splitting the Human Atom 7.2. The Postmodern Condition 7.3. The Narrative Turn in Therapy 7.4. The Other 8. Time 8.1. Introduction: Fidelity to Experience 8.2. Thinking about Time 8.3. Language & Time 8.4. Intersubjective Time 9. Being with Others 9.1. Introduction: Vital Beings. 9.2. The Verity of Intuition 9.3. Experience as Field 9.4. Empathy, Sympathy, & Intersubjectivity 9.5. Implications for Therapeutic Practice
James Costello, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of the West of England, UK. He is an Accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, and Senior Accredited Supervisor specializing in Groups. His experience as a therapist comes from over 20 years’ practice and consultancy across the private, third, and public sectors. He supervises psychotherapy training and has research interests more broadly in phenomenology and consciousness.
