Philosophical counselling and practice (Achenbach)

Domain XV · Nature, philosophy, social & rites of passage · Gerd B. Achenbach · 1981 · Bergisch Gladbach

What it is

Philosophical practice is not a psychotherapy and has no clinical diagnosis or treatment model. Achenbach opened what he called a "philosophical praxis" in Bergisch Gladbach, near Cologne, in 1981 and founded a society for philosophical practice in 1982. A 2004 report names the Internationale…

Format

• No fixed phases. Achenbach deliberately refused to make his approach a fixed method. In place of a protocol he gave other practitioners four "road signs": sincere communication, dialogue, Auslegen (a joint search for interpretation and explanation), and a sense of wonder that avoids fixed…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Format as sources report it. One-to-one conversation between a philosopher and a visitor; it is not tied to a set time or place. A 2004 German report gave fees of 40 to 80 euros a session and said there was no professional regulation of training, so quality varied. Other forms in the movement include philosophy cafés (Marc Sautet), Socratic dialogue groups and Philosophy for Children (Matthew Lipman). Philosophical…
• Ending. APPA's code asks practitioners to avoid unnecessary sessions and to end once the client's goals are met, to the client's satisfaction, or when further benefit is unlikely. The NPCA says consultations focus on a particular problem and end once it is addressed.
• Version followed: Gerd B. Achenbach's philosophical practice (Philosophische Praxis) as the founding German tradition describes it (open, dialogical, "beyond method"), with Ad Hoogendijk's Dutch philosophical consultation as a closely related variant. Professional scope follows the American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA) Code of Ethics and the National Philosophical Counseling Association (NPCA)…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• The therapist's own preferred alternative slipping in. It is working when the client generates options themselves.
• Hair-splitting used to avoid feeling. It is working when the word loses some of its grip or takes on a more precise meaning.
• Over-normalising real depression. Use this only after the scope check (4.2). It is working when shame about having the question goes down.
• Hurrying into a 'presenting problem'. It is working when the client recognises the question as theirs and becomes more curious, less defended.
• Hoogendijk's own warning that therapists may impose their own norms. It is working when the client's values become clearer to them on their own terms.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.