Philosophical Counselling -- Existential Therapy -- Philosophical Guidance
Welcome. My name is Matthew Bishop. I am a counsellor and a philosopher, and I combine the two.
I provide the same quality of counselling and psychotherapy as any mainstream counsellor, and I help with many of the same issues. My service differs, however, by the equal addition of philosophy. I used to teach philosophy at university, however I am less interested in academic scholarship and more in philosophy as the pursuit of wisdom. The word philosophy is ancient Greek and means love of wisdom. Philosophy is a treasury of our finest insights about life from across the millennia, and it is the practice of reflecting wisely on life's concerns.
Hence, I offer the skills and knowledge of a broadly experienced counsellor and psychotherapist, for the common types of challenges that people bring to any counselling: emotional struggles, goals in relationships and work, and so forth. At the same time, I am highly skilled in helping people with such concerns as meaning, value, purpose, direction, wisdom, worldview, mindset, religion and spirituality, enrichment of the inner life, and the cultivation of those personal strengths (the virtues) which lead to a wiser, stronger, happier, better way of being.
I have been a therapist for decades and have worked with thousands of clients; it is my observation and conviction that, for most people, psychological factors and interventions are of secondary value. We live in a nihilistic culture, and it is the concerns of the head and the heart--the above philosophical concerns--which are at the core of many of our struggles. It is by working on such concerns that we better deal with life's pain and challenges, and make life good. The current practice of reducing life to psychological mechanisms and interventions is merely an expression of our culture's technocratic nihilism. Of course, we don't have to choose between psychological and philosophical insights, rather we can draw on both: that is what I offer.
There are various ways of combining philosophy and counselling which I practice. Click the links to read about my Philosophical Counselling, or Existential Therapy, or guidance and coaching, or bibliotherapy.
I see clients by video or phone across Australia and also internationally. You can read about making a booking here. You can read here about the difference between the more humanistic traditions of counselling and psychotherapy such as I practice, versus the medicalised or clinical approaches to mental health services. You can read about my background and professional experience here. Follow me on Facebook for (very infrequent) reflections.
I provide the same quality of counselling and psychotherapy as any mainstream counsellor, and I help with many of the same issues. My service differs, however, by the equal addition of philosophy. I used to teach philosophy at university, however I am less interested in academic scholarship and more in philosophy as the pursuit of wisdom. The word philosophy is ancient Greek and means love of wisdom. Philosophy is a treasury of our finest insights about life from across the millennia, and it is the practice of reflecting wisely on life's concerns.
Hence, I offer the skills and knowledge of a broadly experienced counsellor and psychotherapist, for the common types of challenges that people bring to any counselling: emotional struggles, goals in relationships and work, and so forth. At the same time, I am highly skilled in helping people with such concerns as meaning, value, purpose, direction, wisdom, worldview, mindset, religion and spirituality, enrichment of the inner life, and the cultivation of those personal strengths (the virtues) which lead to a wiser, stronger, happier, better way of being.
I have been a therapist for decades and have worked with thousands of clients; it is my observation and conviction that, for most people, psychological factors and interventions are of secondary value. We live in a nihilistic culture, and it is the concerns of the head and the heart--the above philosophical concerns--which are at the core of many of our struggles. It is by working on such concerns that we better deal with life's pain and challenges, and make life good. The current practice of reducing life to psychological mechanisms and interventions is merely an expression of our culture's technocratic nihilism. Of course, we don't have to choose between psychological and philosophical insights, rather we can draw on both: that is what I offer.
There are various ways of combining philosophy and counselling which I practice. Click the links to read about my Philosophical Counselling, or Existential Therapy, or guidance and coaching, or bibliotherapy.
I see clients by video or phone across Australia and also internationally. You can read about making a booking here. You can read here about the difference between the more humanistic traditions of counselling and psychotherapy such as I practice, versus the medicalised or clinical approaches to mental health services. You can read about my background and professional experience here. Follow me on Facebook for (very infrequent) reflections.