Philosophy, like thought, is a relational endeavor. It does not happen in isolation or in abstraction. Philosophy is highly contextual, dialogical and interactive. We think with our bodies, with each other, with the world; and the world thinks with and through us.
Accordingly, I view counseling in philosophy as collaborative and dialogical, involving a mutual search for clarification, depth, creativity and wisdom. It avoids the power dynamic of a doctor-patient or a priest-believer relationship, where the expert professes to know the other from a distance through a fix set of diagnostic tools or the preacher exhorts golden nuggets of life-altering truths to be consumed by the believer. It is also not about “debating” ideas or proving one another wrong. In philosophical mentoring, life’s truths are pursued in collaboration, but this pursuit requires vulnerability, perseverance and open-ended self-examination from each party involved. For instance, the mentor might share, when relevant, their own personal experiences, journeys and questions, their own struggles and overcomings, the ideas that empowered them and those they let go. They might also reveal how they might have been transformed by what their mentee has to say. Philosophical mentoring synthesizes the personal and the conceptual, avoiding the extremities of both an indifferent, transactional approach and an overly involved entanglement that fails to separate truth and meaning from the subject’s experience.
In sessions, my primary role is to be present and to listen empathetically. I do my best to understand and relate to the insights, experiences, and the worldviews of my clients so as to guide them well. Interactions usually take the form of conversational exchange, but I encourage other forms of creative expression if that serves the clients better. I often ask clarifying questions, employ rational analysis, rely on irony or humor, relate ideas to current events, compare complex experiences to simple day-to-day ones, suggest books or articles to read, movies/videos to watch, when appropriate, share ideas that have inspired me or share my own life experiences and struggles, if they are relevant to the conversation. The goals of these practices may be several including clarifying one’s beliefs and thoughts by unearthing unacknowledged assumptions and root causes; re-articulating one’s concerns by encouraging distance and adopting alternate perspectives; connecting seemingly disparate ideas with familiar ones; bringing to light cognitive dissonances or tensions and contradictions in thought patterns; demystifying experiences and thoughts; suspending judgment and flexibly entertaining multiple viewpoints; helping cultivate the ability to laugh at oneself or encouraging “letting go” when appropriate.
These approaches are grounded in my conviction that philosophical practice transforms us just like the food we consume or the environment that we live in transforms us. It is an ongoing, open-ended enterprise, aesthetically accompanied by a certain experience of freedom, and ethically by the experience of being empowered.
Acharya Praxis 