Stoic practice, Modern Stoicism and Stoic Week

1. Introduction

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 Therapy (CBT) (2nd edn, Routledge, 2020). Ancient texts are quoted only from public-domain translations: Epictetus' Enchiridion in T. W. Higginson's translation and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in George Long's translation.

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 Evans, Gill Garratt and Donald Robertson). Its main offers are Stoic Week, an annual week-long self-help experiment run from a free handbook with before-and-after online questionnaires, and SMRT, a longer online course [source: Stoic Week 2016 Handbook; Lebon 2017; SMRT course outline]. The handbooks summarise Stoicism through three central ideas: virtue as the core of a good life, emotions as shaped by our judgements, and human beings as part of nature and of a community of all people [source: Stoic Week 2016 Handbook].

Core idea of change, as the tradition holds it: distress comes less from events than from the judgements we make about them, and from treating things outside our control as if our good depended on them. In Higginson's Epictetus, people are "disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things" (Enchiridion V). Change comes from repeatedly practising a few disciplines: separating what is up to us from what is not, examining impressions before assenting to them, acting from chosen values (the virtues of wisdom, justice, courage and moderation), and widening perspective on one's place in nature and humanity [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. These are philosophical claims, attributed to the Stoics and to the Modern Stoicism authors; they are not stated here as established psychological fact. Robertson presents Stoicism as a "philosophical origin" acknowledged by the founders of CBT and REBT, and maps Stoic exercises onto CBT, REBT and third-wave methods [source: Robertson 2020, publisher page].

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 [source: Lebon 2017].

2. Framework

Modern Stoicism publishes two programme formats; a therapist's integration of them into therapy is a third, derived format.

A. Stoic Week (seven days, self-guided) [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]

Before the week: read the introduction ("What is Stoicism"), note the safety statement, complete the online pre-questionnaires.
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 morning builds on the previous evening's review.
Daily themes (2015 and 2016 editions): Monday, life as a project and role models (writing your own Meditations); Tuesday, control and wishing with reservation; Wednesday, Stoic mindfulness and examining impressions; Thursday, virtue and values-clarification; Friday, relationships (the circles of Hierocles); Saturday, resilience and preparation for adversity; Sunday, nature and the view from above (2015 edition).
After the week: post-questionnaires, then a suggested continuing reading plan (Marcus daily, Epictetus' Discourses and Seneca's Letters at weekends).
Each annual edition has its own theme (2016: Stoicism and love); exercises are largely stable across the editions consulted, but check the current year's handbook before giving it to a client [uncertain: later editions not verified].

B. SMRT (four weeks, online, facilitated course) [source: SMRT course outline; Lebon 2017]

Preliminary section: orientation, what Stoicism is, course goals, the participant's role and responsibilities.
Week 1, orientation and basics: Stoic mindfulness, the two-column (control) exercise, a daily meditation, self-monitoring, cues and reminders.
Week 2, Stoic virtues: values clarification, "desirable versus healthy and praiseworthy", valued living and activity scheduling, daily meditation, self-monitoring.
Week 3, Stoic mindfulness: examples, daily meditation, self-monitoring, worry postponement.
Week 4, Stoic resilience: daily meditation, a brief mindfulness exercise, self-monitoring, a coping plan.
Commitment: Lebon describes about 20 minutes a day over 28 days. Detailed lesson content is locked to enrolled participants and is not reproduced here.

C. Integration within therapy (derived format) [synthesis, organised on Robertson 2020's "Stoic armamentarium" chapters]

Phase 1, assessment and fit: is the client's problem one a philosophical self-help frame suits, and is there any exclusion the handbooks name (see principle 2)? Move on when the client has a formulation, consents to a philosophical framing and has no unaddressed risk.
Phase 2, orientation: introduce the three central ideas and the control distinction in the client's own words; agree which exercises to try. Move on when the client can state the control distinction about one of their own problems.
Phase 3, core skills: self-monitoring, examining impressions, morning and evening routine, values clarification. Move on when the client is using the routine between sessions and recording at least some episodes.
Phase 4, perspective and resilience: premeditation of adversity (as graded imaginal exposure, with consent), the circles of Hierocles, the view from above, acceptance. Move on when distress during rehearsal falls and the client can generate a values-based coping plan.
Phase 5, maintenance: a personal reading plan, maxims and cues, a written coping plan, optional Stoic Week participation each year.
Session count and format: no source gives a session count for Stoic practice within therapy; do not promise one. Stoic Week itself is one week and SMRT four weeks; either can run alongside individual therapy, with preparation before and debriefing after [synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

It is philosophy, not treatment. Modern Stoicism states its handbook is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. Practical meaning: present Stoic exercises as an optional framework inside a treatment plan, never as the treatment for a mental disorder.
Respect the published exclusions. The handbooks say the experiment is not suitable for people with psychosis, personality disorder, clinical depression, PTSD or other severe mental health problems [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. Practical meaning: a clinician may still adapt single exercises for such a client inside formulated treatment, but should not hand them the self-help week unsupervised, and should say why [synthesis].
Up to us versus not up to us. The organising distinction of the Enchiridion, which opens on "things which are within our power" and those beyond it (Higginson, Enchiridion I). Practical meaning: return every problem to what the client can choose now: judgements, intentions, actions.
Judgements shape emotion. Practical meaning: work at the level of the evaluative thought ("this is unbearable", "this is a catastrophe"), not the event [source: Stoic Week 2016 Handbook; Robertson 2020, chapters 5 and 9].
Virtue as the chosen good. The handbooks name wisdom, justice, courage and moderation [source: Stoic Week 2015 Handbook]. Practical meaning: goals are framed as how the client wants to act, not as outcomes they cannot guarantee.
Action with reservation. Plans carry a reserve clause such as "if nothing prevents it" [source: Stoic Week 2015 Handbook]. Practical meaning: commit fully to effort while loosening attachment to results.
Attention to the present impression (Stoic mindfulness). Practical meaning: train the client to catch early warning signs and pause before assent [source: Stoic Week 2016 Handbook; SMRT course outline].
Review as a friend, not a critic. The evening review should look at actions, not condemn the self, and should avoid rumination [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. Practical meaning: watch for self-punishment disguised as Stoic discipline.
Graded and safe rehearsal. Begin premeditation with small upsets, not traumatic material, and switch to an easier subject if distress does not fall [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. Practical meaning: treat premeditation as imaginal exposure, with consent and contraindications.
Community and nature. Human beings are seen as parts of a wider whole and of a community of humankind [source: Stoic Week 2015 Handbook]. Practical meaning: perspective exercises aim at connection and care, not detachment from people.
Practice is daily and repeated. Maxims are kept "ready to hand" and routines repeated [source: Stoic Week 2016 Handbook]. Practical meaning: build cues and short daily routines rather than relying on in-session insight.
The client is the philosopher. The APPA code asks practitioners to reduce dependency by teaching clients philosophical methods [source: APPA Code of Ethics]. Practical meaning: aim for the client to run the exercises without you.
Stay inside your competence and role. Non-clinical philosophical counsellors are asked by their own code to refer when problems are non-philosophical or outside their competence, and not to present themselves as mental health professionals [source: APPA Code of Ethics]. Practical meaning: refer both ways, and keep the clinical and philosophical roles clear (see intervention 20).
Attribute, do not preach. Stoic metaphysics (providential nature, fate) is a doctrine of the ancient Stoics; Modern Stoicism presents it as optional [synthesis]. Practical meaning: offer the exercises without requiring the client to accept Stoic cosmology or religion.

4. Intervention inventory

Interventions 3 to 8, 10, 11, 13 to 15, 17 to 19 and 23 are Modern Stoicism programme exercises, described in outline and paraphrased, never reproducing handbook or course text. Interventions 9, 12 and 16 follow chapter headings in Robertson (2020); the step detail is [synthesis]. Interventions 1, 2 and 20 to 24 are therapist-side procedures, marked [synthesis] where not sourced. All example language is illustrative.

1. Suitability assessment and screening

Purpose and when: before offering any Stoic exercise or recommending Stoic Week or SMRT; decides whether a philosophical frame fits and which exercises are safe.
Steps:
1. Complete your usual clinical assessment, including risk.
2. Check the exclusions Modern Stoicism publishes for its self-help week: psychosis, personality disorder, clinical depression, PTSD or other severe mental health problems [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. If present, do not recommend unsupervised participation; consider whether single exercises, adapted, fit the treatment plan [synthesis].
3. Ask what draws the client to Stoicism (a book, a podcast, a partner, online communities) and what they think it asks of them [synthesis].
4. Screen for features that make particular exercises risky: trauma memories (premeditation), active grief (acceptance and "restored" reframes), harsh self-criticism (evening review), emotional suppression or avoidance ("Stoic" as not feeling) [synthesis].
5. Agree in writing that Stoic practice is an optional component, not the treatment for a disorder [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "The Stoic Week organisers themselves say it isn't designed for people going through severe depression or trauma symptoms. That doesn't rule out using some of the ideas here, but I'd want us to choose them together."
Watch for: a client using Stoicism to avoid treatment that is indicated (for example, refusing trauma-focused therapy as "un-Stoic"); undisclosed suicidal thinking. Working: the client can name one problem where the control distinction might help, and accepts the safety framing.

2. Orientation to Stoic ideas

Purpose and when: early, to give the client enough of the framework to use the exercises; also when a client arrives with a distorted popular image of Stoicism.
Steps:
1. Introduce the three central ideas the handbooks use: virtue as the core of a good life; emotions as shaped by judgements; being part of nature and of a human community [source: Stoic Week 2016 Handbook].
2. Offer one short public-domain line, for example Epictetus: people are "disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things" (Higginson, Enchiridion V).
3. Contrast this with "stiff upper lip" suppression: the Stoic aim, as Robertson frames it, concerns rational emotion, not the absence of feeling [source: Robertson 2020, chapter 5 title]; details [synthesis].
4. Link to the CBT model if the client is in CBT: Robertson describes Stoicism as a philosophical forerunner the founders of CBT acknowledged [source: Robertson 2020, publisher page].
5. Ask the client to restate the idea in their own words and apply it to one recent event.
Example language (illustrative): "The Stoics weren't saying 'don't feel'. They were saying: notice the judgement inside the feeling, and check whether it's accurate and whether it's helping you act well."
Watch for: the client hearing "your distress is your own fault"; correct this explicitly. Working: the client can separate an event from their evaluation of it in one example.

3. The two-column control exercise (dichotomy of control)

Purpose and when: for worry, frustration, helplessness, or over-responsibility; the Tuesday exercise of Stoic Week and a Week 1 worksheet in SMRT [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks; SMRT course outline].
Steps (handbook structure, own words):
1. Pick a current situation or a life area.
2. Make two lists: what in it is under your control, and what is not.
3. Compare the lists and consider which matters more for living well.
4. Move effort and attention to the first column; for the second, practise accepting that it is not up to you while still doing your best.
5. In therapy, add a middle step: note things partly in your control and split them into the part that is your choice (effort, words, preparation) and the part that is not (outcome) [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Let's put the promotion decision in the 'not up to me' column, and your preparation, the way you speak in the interview, and how you treat yourself afterwards in the 'up to me' column. Which column have you been spending your nights on?"
Watch for: misuse in situations of abuse or injustice, where "not up to me" becomes passivity; make clear that seeking help, leaving, reporting and protesting are actions in one's control [synthesis]. Working: less rumination on column two, more concrete actions from column one.

4. Wishing with reservation (the reserve clause)

Purpose and when: for perfectionism, anger at thwarted plans, and anxiety about outcomes [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks].
Steps:
1. In the morning meditation, state the day's intentions.
2. Add a reserve clause such as "if nothing prevents it" or "Fate permitting" (handbook wording).
3. Imagine the plan being blocked and rehearse responding with acceptance while still doing your best.
4. At the evening review, note where the clause helped and where it did not.
Example language (illustrative): "Try saying, 'I'll finish the report this afternoon, if nothing prevents it.' The aim isn't to lower your effort. It's to stop the plan from becoming a verdict on you."
Watch for: use as a licence for avoidance ("something might prevent it, so why start"). Working: fewer anger or shame spikes when plans fail; effort maintained.

5. Morning meditation (preparing for the day)

Purpose and when: daily routine in Stoic Week; useful for clients who meet predictable difficult situations or people [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks].
Steps:
1. On waking, take a few minutes to compose yourself (the handbooks suggest 5 to 10 minutes).
2. Choose one principle (for example, the control distinction) or one virtue (wisdom, justice, courage, moderation) for the day.
3. Repeat it to yourself and picture how you would act on it.
4. Anticipate likely difficulties, such as a plan going wrong or a difficult person, and plan a calm, values-based response.
5. Ancient precedent: Marcus opens Book 2 with "Begin the morning by saying to thyself" that he will meet difficult people (Long, Meditations, Book 2).
Example language (illustrative): "Tomorrow, before you check your phone, pick one quality you want to bring to the meeting with your manager, say, patience, and run through how you'd show it if she interrupts you again."
Watch for: the rehearsal becoming anticipatory worry; keep it brief and action-focused. Working: the client reports acting on the chosen principle at least once in the day.

6. Evening review

Purpose and when: daily routine; builds learning and self-correction; closes the morning-evening learning cycle [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. The handbooks connect it to Seneca's account of reviewing his day, usually located in Of Anger, Book III (Stewart's public-domain translation is listed in Sources) [uncertain: passage not verified].
Steps:
1. Before bed, take a few minutes (5 to 10 in the handbooks) to go through the day's events in order.
2. Ask three questions: what did I do badly, what did I do well, what did I omit or could do differently.
3. Criticise actions, not yourself; consider how to do them differently next time.
4. Acknowledge what went well.
5. Avoid rumination: reach a clear decision, or set the matter aside until morning.
6. Forgive failings while resolving to improve.
Example language (illustrative): "Imagine you're reviewing the day of a friend you respect. What would you say they handled well? What would you suggest, kindly, for tomorrow?"
Watch for: self-attack, sleep disruption from replaying events (keep it short; if sleep problems persist, route to CBT-I, cross-refer II 069 and II 068), or obsessive checking in clients with OCD [synthesis]. Working: reviews end with one concrete intention, and mood after the review is neutral or better.

7. Stoic mindfulness and examining impressions

Purpose and when: for reactive anger, anxiety spikes and impulsive behaviour; the Wednesday exercise and a theme of SMRT Weeks 1 and 3 [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks; SMRT course outline].
Steps (handbook structure, own words):
1. Learn your early warning signs of a strong feeling (body, thoughts, urges).
2. When one appears, label it as "just an impression" (handbook wording), not the thing itself. Epictetus' version: "You are but a semblance and by no means the real thing" (Higginson, Enchiridion I).
3. Postpone reacting, for example by taking a time-out until you are calmer.
4. Ask: is this within my power? If not, remind yourself it is not what matters most.
5. Ask: what would a wise person do (use someone you know or admire as a model)?
6. Ask: what strengths do I have to meet this (patience, endurance, fairness)?
Example language (illustrative): "When you feel the heat rising in the car, try saying inside, 'This is an impression that he's disrespecting me, not a fact yet.' Then give yourself a few breaths before you decide anything."
Watch for: labelling used to dismiss valid signals (danger, mistreatment). Working: longer gap between trigger and action; fewer regretted reactions logged.

8. Stoic self-monitoring record

Purpose and when: throughout Stoic Week and each SMRT week; supplies material for disputation and review [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks; SMRT course outline].
Steps:
1. Use a five-column record, written as soon as possible after an event: date, time and event; feelings, including early warning signs; thoughts, especially value judgements; control (is it up to me?); actions, judged against your values.
2. The 2016 handbook adds percentage ratings for how much of the situation was in one's control and how well actions matched one's values.
3. Bring the record to session; pick one entry to work through with intervention 9.
Example language (illustrative): "Just catch two or three moments this week. The 'thoughts' column is the important one: what were you telling yourself the situation meant?"
Watch for: perfectionistic over-recording; non-completion (see section 5). Working: entries show the client spotting value judgements and control on their own.

9. Self-analysis and disputation of impressions

Purpose and when: for clients in CBT or REBT who want a philosophical frame for cognitive restructuring; Robertson treats "self-analysis and disputation" as a Stoic technique and relates Stoicism to Ellis's REBT [source: Robertson 2020, chapters 6 and 9]. Steps below are [synthesis].
Steps:
1. Take one self-monitoring entry and isolate the value judgement (for example, "being criticised is intolerable").
2. Ask whether the thing judged is up to the client or not.
3. Ask what evidence and reasoning support the judgement; ask how a wise person would describe the same event.
4. Distinguish the description of the event from its evaluation; Marcus' line "life is opinion" (Long, Meditations, Book 4) can serve as a cue.
5. Write a revised judgement that is accurate and points to an action in the client's control.
6. Test it behaviourally during the week.
Example language (illustrative): "The facts are that your sister didn't call. The impression added 'which proves I don't matter'. Does that second part survive scrutiny?"
Watch for: intellectualised arguing that leaves feeling untouched; return to experience and action. Working: belief in the original judgement drops and alternative actions follow.

10. Values clarification and valued living

Purpose and when: low direction, people-pleasing, behavioural activation; Thursday in Stoic Week, Week 2 in SMRT (which adds "desirable versus healthy and praiseworthy" and valued living with activity scheduling) [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks; SMRT course outline]. The content of the SMRT "desirable versus healthy and praiseworthy" lesson is not public [uncertain: not verified].
Steps:
1. Answer reflective questions: what matters most to me; what should my life be about; how would I like to be remembered; how do I want to spend my time; what kind of person do I want to be in my roles and relationships.
2. Compare the answers with the four Stoic virtues.
3. Check how far daily actions match the values.
4. Choose one specific activity not currently done that would express a value, and schedule it (activity scheduling, cross-refer behavioural activation, II 040).
Example language (illustrative): "If someone at your retirement party described you, what would you want them to say about how you treated people? What's one thing you could do on Thursday that would make that a little more true?"
Watch for: values chosen to please the therapist or a parent; values that are really outcomes ("be rich"). Working: scheduled valued actions are done and the client notices meaning in them.

11. Writing your own Meditations (life as a project and role models)

Purpose and when: Monday of Stoic Week; for identity work, gratitude to formative people, or after a loss of direction [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. The handbook links it to Marcus' notes on what he learned from others, such as his mentor Maximus.
Steps:
1. Note the qualities you have come to value over your life.
2. Consider whether these have changed or deepened.
3. Note who taught or modelled each quality and link people to qualities (notes, drawings or conversation).
4. Revisit the notes later in the week.
Example language (illustrative): "Marcus starts his notebook by thanking people for specific qualities. Who in your life taught you something you still live by?"
Watch for: grief or anger when key figures were absent or harmful; allow "people who showed me what not to do" or non-family models [synthesis]. Working: the client can name qualities they want to keep developing.

12. Contemplation of the sage (role model)

Purpose and when: for decision points, temptation, and self-criticism; Robertson treats "contemplation of the ideal sage" as a Stoic exercise, and the handbooks use role-model questions on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday rather than a separate exercise [source: Robertson 2020, chapter 7; Stoic Week 2015 Handbook]. Steps are [synthesis].
Steps:
1. Choose a model of wisdom: a historical Stoic, a person the client knows, or an imagined ideal.
2. Describe the model's qualities concretely.
3. In a current difficulty, ask what this person would notice, judge, feel and do.
4. Choose one action in that spirit.
5. Keep the sage as an aspiration, not a standard to condemn oneself against.
Example language (illustrative): "Picture your grandmother in this argument. What would she let go of, and what would she still say firmly?"
Watch for: idealisation feeding shame ("I'll never be like that"). Working: the client generates options they had not seen.

13. The circles of Hierocles

Purpose and when: Friday (relationships) of Stoic Week; for isolation, resentment, narrowed concern, or to widen compassion [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks].
Steps (six-stage visualisation, own words):
1. Close your eyes and relax.
2. Imagine a circle of light around your body, standing for your nature as a reasoning being.
3. Widen it to include family or the people closest to you, with affection as if they were part of you.
4. Widen it to colleagues and people you meet day to day.
5. Widen it to the people of your country as fellow reasoning beings.
6. Widen it to the whole human race.
7. In therapy, afterwards ask which circle was hardest to widen and what that says [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Let the circle grow to take in your neighbours, even the one with the dog. You don't have to like them; just notice them as people with their own lives, like you."
Watch for: forced closeness to someone who harmed the client; let the client skip or keep a boundary around a person [synthesis]. Visualisation with eyes closed may be unsettling for some trauma survivors; offer eyes open [synthesis]. Working: warmer, less hostile appraisals of others in self-monitoring.

14. Premeditation of adversity (praemeditatio malorum)

Purpose and when: Saturday (resilience) of Stoic Week; for anticipatory anxiety and worry; Robertson relates it to mental rehearsal in behaviour therapy [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks; Robertson 2020, chapter 11]. In clinical terms this is imaginal exposure; obtain consent and apply contraindications [synthesis].
Steps (handbook structure, own words):
1. Begin with a small upsetting thing, never a traumatic one.
2. Picture a setback or the feared outcome in detail, as if it were happening now (the handbooks give 20 to 30 minutes for this exercise).
3. Record the situation, the strength of feeling (0 to 100%) at the start, how long you stayed with it, the strength at the end, and an analysis of what in it is within your control.
4. If the feeling has not dropped to at least half its peak, choose an easier subject or spend longer with it (handbook criterion).
5. Reflect on how a Stoic such as Seneca, Epictetus or Marcus would view it.
6. In therapy, add a coping response: what you would do, in your control, if it happened [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Let's start small: imagine your train is cancelled on the way to the interview. Stay with the picture. What are you feeling, from 0 to 100? What, in that scene, is still up to you?"
Watch for: contraindicated as self-help for PTSD (handbook exclusion); do not use for trauma memories outside trauma-focused treatment; stop if dissociation, panic that does not settle, or intrusive memories appear; avoid in clients who use worry as reassurance, where it may become rumination [synthesis]. Working: distress falls within and across rehearsals, and the client generates coping plans.

15. The view from above

Purpose and when: Sunday (nature) of Stoic Week, delivered as a guided audio visualisation; for being overwhelmed by a single problem, status anxiety, or loss of perspective [source: Stoic Week 2015 Handbook]. Robertson gives a chapter and a script for it [source: Robertson 2020, chapter 13 and appendix II]. Ancient sources: Marcus, "Look down from above on the countless herds of men" (Long, Meditations, Book 9), and "the whole earth is a point" (Long, Meditations, Book 4).
Steps (outline of the aims the handbook states; scripted wording not reproduced):
1. Settle and picture yourself where you are now.
2. Gradually rise in imagination: above the building, the town, the country, the planet.
3. Notice human affairs from that distance: their scale and how quickly they pass.
4. The handbook adds the Stoic view of an ordered nature of which you are a part; offer this as the Stoics' belief, which the client may or may not share.
5. Return slowly to the present place and ask what now seems most worth doing.
Example language (illustrative): "From up here, the argument about the parking space is very small. What still seems important, from this height, about how you want to treat your brother?"
Watch for: depersonalisation or a sense that nothing matters; in depressed or suicidal clients, "insignificance" can worsen hopelessness, so check mood after and end by returning to valued action [synthesis]. Working: reduced intensity about the focal problem; a values-based choice emerges.

16. Acceptance of what is not up to us

Purpose and when: for protest against unchangeable facts (illness, others' choices); Robertson discusses Stoic fatalism, determinism and acceptance and relates them to acceptance-based therapies [source: Robertson 2020, chapters 12 and 14]. Steps are [synthesis].
Steps:
1. Identify a fact the client is fighting that cannot now be changed.
2. Distinguish acceptance of the fact from approval of it and from giving up on valued action.
3. Offer, if helpful, Epictetus' line: "wish them to happen as they do happen" (Higginson, Enchiridion VIII), as a stance to try, not a rule.
4. Turn to what is still in the client's control in response.
5. Use Marcus' image "Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break" (Long, Meditations, Book 4) as a cue, if the client finds it apt.
Example language (illustrative): "Accepting that the diagnosis is real isn't saying it's fine. It's deciding where your energy goes next."
Watch for: early grief: Epictetus' advice to say of a lost person "I have restored it" (Higginson, Enchiridion XI) can feel invalidating to a bereaved client; do not offer it as consolation unless the client brings Stoicism to their grief themselves, and assess for prolonged grief disorder (DSM-5-TR, ICD-11) where indicated [synthesis]. Working: less struggle, more action.

17. Maxims, affirmations, cues and reminders

Purpose and when: to keep principles "ready to hand" between sessions; the handbooks use short sayings and an audio "Stoic Attitudes Meditation", and SMRT Week 1 includes cues and reminders [source: Stoic Week 2016 Handbook; SMRT course outline].
Steps:
1. Choose one or two short sayings (public-domain lines or the client's own paraphrase).
2. Attach them to cues: phone lock screen, a card in a wallet, a regular daily event.
3. When the cue appears, repeat the saying and ask what it asks of you now.
4. Review each week whether the saying still fits.
Example language (illustrative): "What short phrase would remind you, in the middle of a tense meeting, of what's up to you? Put it in your own words if that sticks better."
Watch for: maxims used as compulsive reassurance or as self-scolding. Working: the client reports recalling the maxim at the right moment.

18. Worry postponement

Purpose and when: SMRT Week 3 includes worry postponement [source: SMRT course outline]; its lesson content is not public, so the steps below are the general cognitive-behavioural form framed by the control distinction [synthesis].
Steps:
1. Agree a short worry period later in the day.
2. When worry starts outside it, note the topic in a word and postpone it.
3. Return attention to the present task (Stoic mindfulness).
4. In the worry period, sort each worry into "up to me" (plan an action) and "not up to me" (practise acceptance).
Example language (illustrative): "Write 'Mum's surgery' on the list and tell yourself you'll give it proper attention at six. Then come back to what's in front of you."
Watch for: postponement turning into suppression; worries about real danger needing immediate action. Working: less time spent worrying; the worry period often feels less urgent than expected.

19. Coping plan

Purpose and when: SMRT Week 4 (resilience) ends with an example coping plan and worksheet [source: SMRT course outline]; the worksheet is not public, so the structure here is [synthesis].
Steps:
1. Name a foreseeable adversity (from premeditation, intervention 14).
2. List early warning signs.
3. List what is and is not in your control.
4. Choose the values and strengths to bring (virtues, a role model).
5. List specific actions, supports and, where relevant, clinical contacts and crisis numbers.
6. Keep the plan accessible and review it.
Example language (illustrative): "If the redundancy letter comes, what's the first thing you'd want to remind yourself of? Who would you call? What would you do that evening?"
Watch for: plans that are only philosophical with no practical supports. Working: the client can describe the plan without notes and uses it when a setback occurs.

20. Referral and collaboration with philosophical counsellors, both ways

Purpose and when: when a client wants philosophical counselling alongside or instead of therapy, or when a philosophical counsellor refers a client with possible mental disorder.
Facts on scope: the APPA code asks members to refer clients whose problems are mainly non-philosophical or beyond their competence, not to present themselves as mental health counsellors or psychologists, and not to use psychological or psychiatric interventions unless otherwise qualified [source: APPA Code of Ethics]. Philosophical counselling has no state licence: a 1999 news report describes APPA founder Lou Marinoff seeking New York State licensure without success, with psychiatric critics opposed [source: Cleveland Scene 1999]. City College of New York ordered a halt to Marinoff's on-campus counselling (his own account dates the order to November 2000; a 2004 New York Times Magazine article reported it) [uncertain]. Regulations differ by jurisdiction [synthesis].
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Ask the client's consent before contacting the counsellor; clarify confidentiality on both sides.
2. Agree roles in writing: the clinician holds assessment, diagnosis, risk and treatment; the philosophical counsellor offers philosophical dialogue.
3. Share a risk plan and how either party will raise concerns.
4. For referral in the other direction (a stable client wanting deeper philosophical study), recommend credentialled counsellors and say clearly that this is not therapy.
5. Do not present philosophical counselling as treatment for any mental disorder.
Example language (illustrative): "I'm glad you're finding the philosophy sessions helpful. Could I, with your permission, let your counsellor know what we're working on here, and agree what each of us will do if things get harder?"
Watch for: splitting between providers; a counsellor addressing symptoms beyond their scope. Working: coordinated, non-contradictory work.

21. Preparing a client to take part in Stoic Week or SMRT

Purpose and when: a client wishes to join the annual Stoic Week or an SMRT course while in therapy [synthesis].
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Review the published safety statement and exclusions together [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks].
2. Explain that participation is voluntary, that online questionnaires contribute to research, and that the client should read the privacy terms before answering.
3. Choose which exercises to try and which to skip (often premeditation, for trauma histories).
4. Agree what to do if distress rises: pause, use the coping plan, contact you.
5. Note that online discussion groups are public or semi-public spaces; agree what the client will and will not share.
Example language (illustrative): "It's fine to skip Saturday's exercise if the scenarios start leaning towards the accident. We can do a gentler version together first."
Watch for: perfectionism about completing every day (Lebon reports most participants did not complete, so non-completion is common [source: Lebon 2017]). Working: the client starts with clear limits.

22. Debriefing and monitoring

Purpose and when: after Stoic Week, after each SMRT week, or after any in-session exercise.
Steps:
1. Ask what the client did, what helped, what did not, and what they noticed about their judgements [synthesis].
2. Where the client completed the programme's questionnaires, ask what they noticed about their results (Modern Stoicism uses measures including the Stoic Attitudes and Behaviours Scale, flourishing, life-satisfaction and positive and negative emotion scales [source: Lebon 2017]); continue your own routine outcome monitoring rather than relying on them [synthesis].
3. Integrate useful exercises into the treatment plan and drop the rest.
Example language (illustrative): "Of everything you tried this week, which one would you keep if you could only keep one?"
Watch for: increased self-criticism, emotional numbing, or new distress after premeditation or the view from above [synthesis]. Working: the client names specific exercises worth keeping.

23. Reading plan and maintenance

Purpose and when: after Stoic Week or at the end of therapy, to sustain practice [source: Stoic Week 2015 Handbook].
Steps:
1. The handbook suggests continuing with daily readings from Marcus and weekend readings from Epictetus' Discourses and Seneca's Letters.
2. Choose an edition; the handbooks recommend Oxford World's Classics and Penguin translations; public-domain translations are freely available.
3. Keep the morning and evening routine, or one of them, and a maxim.
4. Consider repeating Stoic Week each year [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "One short section of Marcus with your coffee is plenty. Note one line that speaks to your day."
Watch for: reading replacing practice; selective reading that supports avoidance. Working: practice continues after therapy ends.

24. Working with what Stoicism means in the client's life

Purpose and when: when Stoicism is part of the client's identity, community or family culture, or when a client's version of "being Stoic" is part of the problem [synthesis].
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Explore what Stoicism offers the client (order, meaning, a model of manhood or toughness, a philosophy of loss) and where they learned it.
2. Compare the client's version with the ancient and Modern Stoicism sources: the handbooks stress emotions shaped by judgement, relationships and community, and kindly self-review, not suppression or contempt for others.
3. Where Stoicism functions as a moral or spiritual tradition and the client is struggling with it, consider the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview supplementary module on spirituality, religion and moral traditions, and, if the problem is the focus of care, the code Z65.8 [source: ICD-10-CM Z65.8 (Unbound Medicine)]; DSM-5-TR wording of "Religious or Spiritual Problem" [uncertain: not verified].
4. Respect the client's commitment while working on harmful readings.
Example language (illustrative): "You've said a Stoic doesn't cry. The Stoic Week organisers describe Stoicism as being about how judgements shape feelings, not about having none. What would a version of Stoicism that allowed you to grieve look like?"
Watch for: contempt for others' feelings, isolation, refusal of help framed as Stoic self-sufficiency. Working: the client keeps what is valuable to them and loosens what harms.

5. Handling problems

The Modern Stoicism handbooks address only a few of these directly (exclusions, graded premeditation, avoiding rumination and harsh self-review); the rest is [synthesis].

Stuck client ("I get it intellectually but nothing changes"). Move from discussion to practice: one exercise, a cue, and a self-monitoring entry before next session. Use behavioural tests of revised judgements (intervention 9) and valued actions (intervention 10) rather than more argument [synthesis].
Resistance to the philosophy ("this is just telling me not to care", or objection to Stoic ideas of fate or providential nature). Separate the exercises from the metaphysics; the control distinction and values work do not require belief in Stoic cosmology. Offer the ideas as the Stoics' views, not yours, and allow the client to reject them. If the client's religion or worldview conflicts, adapt or drop the frame [synthesis].
Overwhelm during premeditation or visualisation. Stop, ground in the room, rate distress, and return only to a milder scenario, as the handbooks advise when distress does not fall [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. If trauma memories intrude, pause Stoic exercises and assess for trauma-focused treatment [synthesis].
Non-adherence to daily routines. Shrink the task (one question at night, one principle in the morning), attach it to an existing habit, and treat a missed day as material for a kindly review rather than failure. Programme completion is low even among volunteers, so plan for partial use [source: Lebon 2017; synthesis].
Harsh self-review. If the evening review becomes self-attack, reframe it as the handbooks do (review as a friend, criticise actions not self) and, if needed, suspend it in favour of self-compassion work [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks; synthesis].
Stoicism as emotional suppression or avoidance. Clients sometimes read Stoicism as not feeling or not needing anyone. Name the difference between examining a judgement and suppressing an emotion; bring back the relationship themes (Hierocles, community) and check for alcohol use, isolation and avoidance of help [synthesis].
Depression, hopelessness and suicide. Clinical depression is a published exclusion for the self-help week [source: Stoic Week 2015 and 2016 Handbooks]. Some ancient Stoic writings discuss ending one's life as a permissible choice in some circumstances [uncertain: not verified]; this is a historical philosophical position, not guidance, and this guide does not endorse it; a depressed client reading such passages may find them unsettling or validating. Ask directly about suicidal thinking when a client is reading Stoic texts while depressed, follow your standard risk assessment and safety planning, and avoid perspective exercises that stress insignificance until mood improves. Crisis resources: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (US); Samaritans 116 123 (UK and Ireland) [synthesis].
Grief. Stoic consolations about mortality (for example, Enchiridion III and XI) can feel dismissive early in bereavement. Follow the client's lead, attend to their own mourning practices, and assess for prolonged grief disorder as DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 describe it where grief is persistent and impairing; cross-refer the Domain XV death and mourning guides [synthesis].
Rupture: the client feels lectured. Acknowledge it, stop quoting, ask what the client wanted, and return to the client's own words and examples. The client is the philosopher; the therapist asks questions [source: APPA Code of Ethics on reducing dependency; synthesis].
Misuse of the control distinction in abuse, discrimination or unsafe work. Make clear that leaving, reporting, organising, asking for help and protest are within one's control; safeguarding duties take priority over any exercise [synthesis].
Client wants to leave therapy for a philosophical counsellor or online Stoic group. Respect the choice, assess risk, describe the scope limits of non-clinical practitioners (intervention 20), offer a review appointment, and provide crisis resources [synthesis].
Dual roles: the therapist also runs or joins a Stoic group or teaches Stoic Week. Keep clients and group members separate where possible, avoid recruiting clients into your own courses, and consider the APA Ethics Code, Standard 3.05 on multiple relationships (APA Ethics Code). Modern Stoicism is not known to certify facilitators [uncertain: not verified]; check that your professional indemnity insurance covers psychoeducational group work and online delivery [synthesis]. The APPA code similarly bars using college or agency affiliations to recruit private clients [source: APPA Code of Ethics].
Copyright and materials. Give clients the official free handbook link or public-domain texts; do not copy SMRT locked lesson content or worksheets into your own handouts [synthesis].
Online communities. Some online "Stoic" content promotes contempt for emotion or for others. Explore what the client consumes and compare it with the sources above [synthesis].

Sources

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