Philosophical Consultancy is a relatively new movement in philosophy which applies philosophical thinking and debating to the resolution of a person's problem. Gerd Achenbach and Ad Hoogendijk are two, German and Dutch philosophers who established themselves as consultant philosophers in the ninety eighties(Achenbach 1984, 2002; Hoogendijk 1988) and led the way to a number of other developments all over the world. They proposed an alternative to psychotherapeutic culture by working purely in the arena of existential investigation with their `visitors' (as they call their clients or patients).
Achenbach argues that in philosophising what matters is not the thinking that informs life, but the living that calls to thinking and that can give direction in its own right. Living comes before thinking. Practice precedes theory.

The movement is sometimes referred to as philosophical counselling and it is also connected with and related to Existential Therapy

Existential therapy

Existential psychotherapy is a philosophical method of therapy that operates on the belief that inner conflict within a person is due to that individual's confrontation with the givens of existence. These givens, as noted by Irvin D...

, which has thrived in the United Kingdom since the establishment of the [Society for Existential Analysis] (SEA) in 1988 in London. This was based on the work of Emmy van Deurzen

Emmy van Deurzen

Emmy van Deurzen is an existential therapist and honorary Professor at the University of Sheffield...

, also a philosopher who has applied philosophical thinking to the practice of psychotherapy. Philosophical Consultancy is often applied to business consultancy as well as to work with individuals, since it frequently involves a rethinking of values and beliefs and is also a method for the rational resolution of conflicts.

Philosophical practice has continued to expand and is attractive as an alternative to counselling and psychotherapy for those who want to avoid a medicalization of problems in living. Numerous philosophical consultants have emerged, especially since the creation of a Society for Philosophical Practice, which has organized conferences throughout the world and which has given rise to many other publications (Lahav and Tillmans 1995, Curnow 2001, Herrestad et al. 2002, Marinoff 1999).

It has also given rise to the creation of the Society for Philosophical Practice (SPP)

References

• Achenbach, G. B. (1984) Philosophische Praxis, Köln: Verlag für Philosophie Jürgen Dinter.
• Achenbach, G.B. (2002) Philosophical Practice opens up the trace to Lebenskönnerschaft, in Herrestad H., Holt A., Svare H. Philosophy in Society, Oslo: Unipub Forlag.
• Deurzen, E. van (1984) `Existential psychotherapy', in W Dryden (ed.) Individual Therapy in Britain, London: Harper and Row.
• Deurzen, E. van (1988) Existential Counselling in Practice, London: Sage Publications.
• Deurzen, E. van (1991) `Ontological insecurity revisited', Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis 2: 38-48.
• Deurzen, E. van (1992) `Dialogue as therapy', Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis 3: 15-23.
• Deurzen, E. van (1994x) Does Counselling Help?, Durham: Durham University Publications.
• Deurzen, E. van (1994c) If Truth were a Woman.. . , London: School of Psychotherapy and Counselling Publications.
• Deurzen, E. van 1998) Paradox and Passion in Psychotherapy, Chichester: Wiley.
• Deurzen, E. van (2002) Existential Counselling and Psychotherapy in Practice,Second Edition, London: Sage Publications.
• Herrestad H., Holt A., Svare H. (2002) Philosophy in Society, Oslo: Unipub Forlag.
• Hoogendijk, A. (1988) Spreekuur bij een filosoof, Utrecht: Veers.
• Lahav, R. and Tillmanns, M. da V. (eds) (1995) Essays in Philosophical Counselling, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
• LeBon, T. (2001) Wise Therapy, London: Continuum.
• Marinoff, L. (1999) Plato not Prozac, New York: Harper Collins.