This book addresses the topic of the unconscious from three different perspectives: philosophy, clinical psychology, and personal mental health. It is therefore relevant to a variety of individuals, such as students and philosophers studying philosophy of psychology and philosophy of mind, and students and practitioners in the field of mental health for whom the formal definition and description of the unconscious has undergone radical changes. In addition, it is informative and helpful in a practical way to individuals for whom a consideration of the unconscious has played a role in dealing with their own mental health. As the title suggests, this book is also meant as a resource for practitioners in the field of philosophical counselling. Philosophical counselling consists of a trained philosopher helping an individual deal with a personal problem or an issue that is of concern to that individual. The topic of the unconscious has been largely ignored in the philosophical counselling literature because the unconscious has been so strongly associated with psychology. But philosophical counsellors often find themselves seeing individuals who have previously undergone some form of psychotherapy. This means that not only must the philosophical counsellor be prepared to offer the client a perspective on personal problems that is removed from the psychotherapeutic medical model of distress as 'mental illness, ' but the counsellor must also be able to offer assistance free from the influence of the popular misconception that the unconscious is a controlling but ultimately incomprehensible entity buried deep within the mind. The chapters in this book are intended to help the philosophical counsellor achieve those ends.

Weaving together state-of-the-art research, theory, and clinical insights, this book provides a new understanding of the unconscious and its centrality in human functioning. The authors review heuristics, implicit memory, implicit learning, attribution theory, implicit motivation, automaticity, affective versus cognitive salience, embodied cognition, and clinical theories of unconscious functioning. They integrate this work with cognitive neuroscience views of the mind to create an empirically supported model of the unconscious. Arguing that widely used psychotherapies--including both psychodynamic and cognitive approaches--have not kept pace with current science, the book identifies promising directions for clinical practice. Winner--American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis Book Prize (Theory)

Annotation Critiques existing theoretical approaches and practices of philosophical counseling and presents a new model.

In this book, Raabe argues that philosophy can effectively inform and improve conventional methods of treating mental illness. He presents clinical evidence showing that mild and so-called clinical mental illnesses can be both prevented and alleviated with philosophical talk therapy. Raabe offers concrete case examples that support his findings.

This book consists of a focused and systematic analysis of Freud’s implicit argument for unconscious mental states. The author employs the unique approach of applying contemporary philosophical methods, especially Kripke-Putnam essentialism, in analyzing Freud’s argument. The book elaborates how Freud transformed the intentionality theory of his Cartesian teacher Franz Brentano into what is essentially a sophisticated modern view of the mind. Indeed, Freud redirected Brentano's analysis of consciousness as intentionality into a view of consciousness-independent intentionalism about the mental that in effect set the agenda for latter-twentieth-century philosophy of mind.

Raabe examines some of the most perplexing problems a client may present to a counselor and how a philosopher would deal with them. He provides a detailed philosophical discussion as well as illustrative case studies of some of the most important issues encountered in any counseling practice. The first six chapters discuss philosophical counseling in general terms, while the following 15 chapters deal with specific life issues such as the differences between how men and women communicate and how this is relevant to a counseling discussion, the role of medication in therapy, the concept of normalcy, the meaning of life, the motivation behind suicide, dream interpretation, and religious beliefs. An important resource for professionals, students, and scholars involved with philosophical counseling and applied/practical philosophy.

"This book discusses the philosophical questions asked by counselees and the philosophical dilemmas faced by counselors in philosophical counseling. It illustrates the role of tacit philosophical assumptions in the creation and resolution of problems, as well as the contribution of philosophical dialogue in overcoming presuppositions"--

In the first book written in English on this growing field of applied philosophy, Essays on Philosophical Counseling is a collection of 14 articles by leading philosophical counselors from five countries. The book presents the reader with the major approaches to philosophical counseling, by combing theoretical discussions with a large number of case studies. Divided into three parts, Essays on Philosophical Counseling first discusses the theoretical and historical background of philosophical counseling, then deals with the relationship between philosophical counseling and psychotherapy and last, focuses on specific types of problems and predicaments and how they are addressed philosophically. Contents: Philosophical Counseling: The General Picture; A Conceptual Framework for Philosophical Counseling: Worldview Interpretation, Ran Lahav; Philosophical Counseling in Holland: History and Open Issues, Ida Jongsma; The Training of a Philosophical Counselor, Dries Bole; Philosophical Counseling: The Arts of Ecological Relationship and Interpretation, Barbara Norman; Philosophical Counceling and Psychotherapy; Philosophy, Philosophical Practice, and Psychotherapy, Gerd A. Achenbach; Philosophical Counseling as a Critical Examination of Life-Directing Conceptions, Michael Schefczyk; Some Reflections on Philosophical Counseling and Psychotherapy, Ben Mijuskovic; Meaning Crisis: Philosophical Counseling and Psychotherapy, Steven Segal; Philosophical Counseling: Some Roles of Critical Thinking, Elliot D. Cohen; Specific Topics for Counseling; Philosophy in Marriage Counseling, Anette Prins-Bakker; Philosophical Practice, Pastoral Work, and Suicide Survivors, Will A.J.F. Gerbers; The Philosopher in the Business World as a Vision Developer, Ad Hoogendijk; On the Emergence of Ethical Counseling: Considerations and Two Case Studies, Louis Marinoff; Supplement: The Legal Perspective; Legal Issues in Philosophical Counseling, Barton Bernstein and Linda Bolin.

Schelling, Freud, and the Philosophical Foundations of Psychoanalysis provides a long-overdue dialogue between two seminal thinkers, Schelling and Freud. Through a sustained reading of the sublime, mythology, the uncanny, and freedom, this book provokes the reader to retrieve and revive the shared roots of philosophy and psychoanalysis. Teresa Fenichel examines the philosophical basis for the concepts of the unconscious and for the nature of human freedom on which psychoanalysis rests. Drawing on the work of German philosopher F. W. J. Schelling, the author explores how his philosophical understanding of human actions, based as it was on the ideas of drives, informed and helped shape Freud’s work. Fenichel also stresses the philosophical weight of Freudian psychoanalysis, specifically in regards to the problem of freedom and argues that psychoanalysis complicates and reinforces Schelling’s basic idea: to know reality we must engage with the world empathetically and intimately. This book also serves as an introduction to Schelling’s thought, arguing that his metaphysics—particularly concerning the primacy of the unconscious and of fantasy—can be read as a therapeutic endeavor. Finally, the book offers a deep rethinking of the action and nature of sublimation through both Freud’s and Schelling’s texts. Fenichel suggests psychoanalytic therapy is self-interpretation—a recognition of our narratives as narratives, without for that reason taking them any less seriously. Schelling, Freud, and the Philosophical Foundations of Psychoanalysis will be of great interest to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists as well as scholars of philosophy.

With contributions from eighteen professional women counselors from twelve different countries, this book is the first to provide an overview of new-born philosophical practices from an entirely female perspective. It gives voice to women's thoughts and brings to the reader a living portrait of philosophy as a service to people and a training for those in search of a fully lived existence. As the authors draw on first-hand experience, their philosophical analyses intertwine with changes in attitudes and real-life stories, unearthing that forgotten soul of philosophical thought which our ancestors referred to as the Anima. The book provides a lively, sprightly and vivacious picture of how philosophy is used in practice, a long way from the rigidness and stereotypical severity of its traditional image. It will not fail to inspire readers to live their thoughts and think their lives.