Dialogical beyond-method consultation

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

What it is

Dialogical "beyond method" consultation is not a psychotherapy and, by its founders' own account, not a method. Achenbach opened a philosophical practice in Bergisch Gladbach, near Cologne, in 1981 and founded a society for philosophical practice in 1982. People who come are called guests or…

Format

• No phases, session counts or manual are published for Achenbach's practice; the founders resist turning it into a fixed method and keep the conversation open-ended. Schuster worked one to one with clients paying her directly, and also by telephone and email, holding that genuine encounter matters…
• The nearest published structure is Anders Lindseth's three steps for the individual conversation, as taught in the Vienna programme:

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?
• 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

• self-blame; frame it as description, not verdict. Working: the visitor finds a verb for their own stance.
• a lecture replacing dialogue; keep each contribution short and return the question. Working: the visitor chooses or revises a map.
• the question landing as an accusation (slow down, say why you ask). Working: the guest distinguishes what they know from what they fear.
• listening turning into passive note-taking; a story that circles without end (move to item 5). Working: the guest notices their own key words.
• feigned ignorance used as a teaching trick (the visitor will feel managed). Working: the visitor experiences the conversation as a shared inquiry.

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.