What is decisive about a lot of confusion and, at least that a person decides to take a serious course of study (and then go and read a lot 'of Italian and foreign texts, study the origin and development of this practice over time and in different parts of the world, look at some models and some versions) the risk of misunderstanding is very high.
I will make only a brief example. Imagine that a person interested in learning more about philosophical counseling, do not hesitate to do some research on the Internet and that, unfortunately, end up on Wikipedia.
This person will be convinced to be in front of a definition of philosophical counseling, but in reality he is reading a definition of philosophical counseling.
Arrival to the point.
Personally, I am convinced that the tendency to misunderstand the nature of philosophical counseling is due to the ease with which some "experts" (I will call self-styled philosophical counselors) mix the words and advice Philosophical counseling.
need to distinguish clearly the philosophical counseling from Counseling philosophical: it refers to a universe of "psychotherapy soft", particularly in Anglo Consolidated characterized by a tendency to "hybridize" psychology with philosophy.
Now, we must admit that this hybridization can be very dangerous, as psychology has for quite different from philosophy. Psychology, once analyzed the key causal reality, spoke about possible links at the bottom of the discomfort. Philosophy can not do any of this, if it is true that love for knowledge, and then characterized by a background free (Its all love, otherwise it would be called by another name ...)
If I'm not philosophizing, I do it to heal, because otherwise I'm looking for a drug, a sedative, a "truth maintenance" in a word, salvation. But this is not philosophy or religion, medicine (which are now the same thing)
There is nothing to be done, the lens is always a view of psychology and medical diagnosis where, once discovered the cause or causes of a disturbance, one works accordingly with the aim to heal and bring well-being.
The Philosophical Counseling, and is simply a variant of counseling psychology (or Rogers) and is not very dissimile dal Counseling esistenzialista
La Consulenza filosofica (Philosophische Beratung o Philosophische Praxis), invece, non ha a che fare con il counseling, con Rogers, Ellis o Franlk. Essa nasce quando il filosofo tedesco Gerd Achenbach apre il suo studio a Colonia nel 1981, molto critico nei confronti delle forme di counseling e di tutte le forme di psico-terapia (siano esse strong o soft)
In Italia, la prima e sintetica definizione di consulenza filosofica, è stata quella articolata dallo studioso e docente di filosofia morale, Andrea Poma: “La consulenza filosofica è la prestazione professionale di una consulenza da parte di un consulente esperto in filosofia a un consultante che liberamente e spontaneamente gliene fa richiesta”
This definition has limitations. Indeed, we are sure enough to be "an expert in philosophy" to the philosophical, do we not need philosophy to live on their skin and then be a philosopher if you really want to play the game like the philosophy requires, and not just limited to "apply" theories and knowledge. However, this definition is acceptable because it sketches the contours of which is "professional" and "philosophical."
In philosophical counseling is and philosopher, if we talk about psychology, it is spoken as one can speak of physics or astronomy, as a knowledge that can give you more awareness of themselves and the world, but not as a tool to get results etc..
If you want reliable info on philosophical counseling go to the website of 'Phronesis Association (there is also a free downloadable PDF magazine of the same name)
http://www.phronesis.info/HomePubI.html
And, even better, if you know you go on the German site Achenbach
http://www.achenbach-pp.de/
Thank you!
