Q&A: Philosophical Therapy
Philosophical Therapy
Question
Is it possible to treat psychological problems through philosophy? Or is it necessary to keep the two fields separate?
Answer
I don’t have the tools to answer. I assume that in some cases yes (there is also an approach called philosophical therapy, but I don’t have much confidence in the various approaches on the market until they’ve been systematically tested. And very few psychological approaches have been systematically tested. See my columns on psychology).
Discussion on Answer
Does psychology trace things back to the root, or at least try to do that?
There is a search option on the site’s main page
I don’t have that option, only for the responsa section I have a search field. I think there used to be one. Maybe it’s a bug on my end
There’s a Google search here, and there’s also a search box at the top of the page on the left. Type in “psychology,” or “is psychology a science.” It’s not complicated.
Samson,
I doubt how much the therapeutic theory is what actually helps bring about psychological change. My impression, and from my limited familiarity with the field (professionally I’m a clinical social worker and I practice dynamic psychotherapy), is that what really contributes to change is the nature of the relationship with the therapist, belief in change, and commitment to the process. There are studies that tried to map the success factors in psychotherapy, and they showed that the nature of the theory accounts for a very low percentage, while most of it depends on factors in the therapist and the patient. But of course each case has to be judged on its own, and it’s hard to infer from the general rule to your particular case.
I’m not sure what kind of “psychological problems” you mean, but if you mean existential problems (existential loneliness, lack of meaning, and the like), there are quite a few approaches that deal with that. There is an approach called “existential psychotherapy” that is starting to enter the market in a big way.
But in any case, I find it hard to believe that philosophical questions in themselves, without a personal predisposition, can cause psychological distress. In any event, I assume that’s very rare. Psychological distress can “dress itself up” in philosophical language, but it may reflect psychological lacks that are looking for an answer.
And maybe it’s worth thinking in that direction. In any case, there are approaches that offer an answer for people inclined that way. It’s called “philosophical counseling.” There are several academic philosophy lecturers who have a clinic for that kind of counseling.
I think that in principle the answer is yes. The cognitive-behavioral approach (CBT), for example, claims that psychological distress is in many cases the product of a mistaken worldview. The treatment focuses on identifying thinking errors and trying to replace them with a more balanced “philosophy of life.” For example, a person suffering from an eating disorder usually holds an unbalanced view regarding the importance of beauty and weight, and therefore lives in distress. The treatment will identify this mistaken “philosophy” and aim to replace it with a more balanced and less rigid perspective
Is there a way to search the columns by keywords? There are about 700 of them.
What is the number of at least one column?