A Philosophical approach to Counselling
Welcome.
I am a counsellor and psychotherapist. With decades of experience, I am registered at the most senior level with the Australian Counselling Association. Before becoming a counsellor I taught philosophy at The University of Melbourne. I offer what is known as Philosophical Counselling or Existential Therapy.
This is therapy for coping, well-being and personal growth.
Hence it is very different to a clinical mental health service that assesses and treats disorders.
A philosophical approach to counselling (as I practice it) is much more than a purely intellectual activity. First of all, it draws on the broad insights and practices of mainstream counselling and psychotherapy. Secondly, like those other approaches, it is for the concrete problems and challenges of your life - relationships or work, anxiety or depression, emotional healing and personal growth. Third and importantly, while it helps you with those concrete issues, the deep work of this therapy - which makes it philosophical - regards the transformation of how you experience yourself and life: increasing your sense of meaning, purpose, direction, strength, self-esteem, happiness, and inward peace. Our persistent struggles in life reflect the fact that our minds have developed to protect us rather than to make us happy. We not only act out, but indeed see the world through, unconcscious patterns, defence mechanisms, which have evolved to help us, but in fact make us unhappy and our lives worse. Therapy is about insight into those blind patterns which undermine you. And it is about transformation of your patterns to become more functional and happy. Philosophical therapy is about transforming those patterns toward those deeper goals.
Anybody who has studied philosophy at university might see it as merely intellectual activity, but philosophy used to be a practice, a way of life. And that is how I approach it. I bring to this work decades of learning and life experiences: first as a monk (a contemplative Christian monastery), then a deep dive into Buddhism, then the study of philosophy with an emphasis on secular paths to happiness and meaning (stoicism, existentialism, etc.), and then decades of work as a therapist. My life and my profession has been a journey in deepening my knowledge and experience of the human need to finding meaning and happiness, in a world which includes much suffering. We all have a deep need for a sense of meaning, purpose, direction, connection, understanding. We need these when we suffer, to give us clarity and strength. We need them in good times, in order not to become superficial or to fall into despair. And we need them in order to build a genuinely good life, both within and without. The existential psychotherapist Viktor Frankl, who survived Auschwitz, wrote that the person who can find a why, can find a how: when we have a deep enough sense of meaning and purpose, we can face life's challenges, we can make life work, we can find joy. This is the work of philosophical counselling.
I see clients according to their desires - a one-off session, a few, or ongoing, according to their preferred intervals - so you can feel confident in trying this approach and making your own decisions. I am slowly rebuilding this website - please see my main website here for details on making a booking with me.
During 2020 I closed my Carlton, Melbourne office. I am now practicing by video and phone. Once we open up and take off the masks, I will also see clients face-to-face in Castlemaine, Victoria.
I am a counsellor and psychotherapist. With decades of experience, I am registered at the most senior level with the Australian Counselling Association. Before becoming a counsellor I taught philosophy at The University of Melbourne. I offer what is known as Philosophical Counselling or Existential Therapy.
This is therapy for coping, well-being and personal growth.
Hence it is very different to a clinical mental health service that assesses and treats disorders.
A philosophical approach to counselling (as I practice it) is much more than a purely intellectual activity. First of all, it draws on the broad insights and practices of mainstream counselling and psychotherapy. Secondly, like those other approaches, it is for the concrete problems and challenges of your life - relationships or work, anxiety or depression, emotional healing and personal growth. Third and importantly, while it helps you with those concrete issues, the deep work of this therapy - which makes it philosophical - regards the transformation of how you experience yourself and life: increasing your sense of meaning, purpose, direction, strength, self-esteem, happiness, and inward peace. Our persistent struggles in life reflect the fact that our minds have developed to protect us rather than to make us happy. We not only act out, but indeed see the world through, unconcscious patterns, defence mechanisms, which have evolved to help us, but in fact make us unhappy and our lives worse. Therapy is about insight into those blind patterns which undermine you. And it is about transformation of your patterns to become more functional and happy. Philosophical therapy is about transforming those patterns toward those deeper goals.
Anybody who has studied philosophy at university might see it as merely intellectual activity, but philosophy used to be a practice, a way of life. And that is how I approach it. I bring to this work decades of learning and life experiences: first as a monk (a contemplative Christian monastery), then a deep dive into Buddhism, then the study of philosophy with an emphasis on secular paths to happiness and meaning (stoicism, existentialism, etc.), and then decades of work as a therapist. My life and my profession has been a journey in deepening my knowledge and experience of the human need to finding meaning and happiness, in a world which includes much suffering. We all have a deep need for a sense of meaning, purpose, direction, connection, understanding. We need these when we suffer, to give us clarity and strength. We need them in good times, in order not to become superficial or to fall into despair. And we need them in order to build a genuinely good life, both within and without. The existential psychotherapist Viktor Frankl, who survived Auschwitz, wrote that the person who can find a why, can find a how: when we have a deep enough sense of meaning and purpose, we can face life's challenges, we can make life work, we can find joy. This is the work of philosophical counselling.
I see clients according to their desires - a one-off session, a few, or ongoing, according to their preferred intervals - so you can feel confident in trying this approach and making your own decisions. I am slowly rebuilding this website - please see my main website here for details on making a booking with me.
During 2020 I closed my Carlton, Melbourne office. I am now practicing by video and phone. Once we open up and take off the masks, I will also see clients face-to-face in Castlemaine, Victoria.