Stoic practice, Modern Stoicism and Stoic Week

Domain XV · Nature, philosophy, social & rites of passage · Christopher Gill, Patrick Ussher, John Sellars · 2012

What it is

Modern Stoicism is not a psychotherapy. It is a public-philosophy project begun in 2012 by the "Stoicism Today" group, which brought together academic philosophy, classics and psychology (contributors named in the 2016 handbook: Christopher Gill, Patrick Ussher, John Sellars, Tim LeBon, Jules…

Format

• Modern Stoicism publishes two programme formats; a therapist's integration of them into therapy is a third, derived format.
• Daily routine, every day: a morning meditation (the handbook suggests 5 to 10 minutes), a midday exercise on the day's theme, an evening meditation before bed (5 to 10 minutes), and an optional Stoic self-monitoring record. The morning and evening practices are framed as a learning cycle: each…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: the Stoic Week handbooks of the Stoicism Today / Modern Stoicism group (2015 and 2016 editions, seven-day structure with morning, midday and evening practices), the published outline of Stoic Mindfulness and Resilience Training (SMRT, four weeks, designed by Donald Robertson in 2014), and, for integration with cognitive-behavioural therapy, Robertson's The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status in one line: Lebon's Stoic Week 2017 report describes uncontrolled pre-post surveys of self-selected participants (2,870 took part, 24% completed; for SMRT 907 started, 254 completed and 88 gave 3-month follow-up), with gains reported among completers only.

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?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• 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

• idealisation feeding shame ("I'll never be like that"). Working: the client generates options they had not seen.
• reading replacing practice; selective reading that supports avoidance. Working: practice continues after therapy ends.
• maxims used as compulsive reassurance or as self-scolding. Working: the client reports recalling the maxim at the right moment.
• splitting between providers; a counsellor addressing symptoms beyond their scope. Working: coordinated, non-contradictory work.
• labelling used to dismiss valid signals (danger, mistreatment). Working: longer gap between trigger and action; fewer regretted reactions logged.

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.