Customer Reviews

Wise Therapy (The School of Psychotherapy & Counselling)

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The following are sections of the review I wrote for "The Examined Life" (APPA, v. 3, n. 3; 12/2001).

...Tim LeBon's Wise Therapy is...aimed at philosophically minded psychological counselors. It presents some important concepts of philosophy and their uses in a manner accessible to non-philosophers. However, LeBon presents a more practical, topic-oriented approach [than Alex Howard in his 'Philosophy for Counselling & Psychotherapy'], showing non-philosophers how to use philosophy in their practice. In doing this, LeBon has, like Howard, authored a text which should become a staple on the philosophical counselor's bookshelf.

Wise Therapy is a concise, well-written book organized around two philosophical themes: Ethics and The Meaning of Life. Individual chapters discuss such topics as the nature of well-being, theories of right and wrong, and the relationship between emotions and reason. These topics are covered mainly from three basic viewpoints, existential-phenomenological counseling (EC), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and philosophical counseling (PC), and are related to both client and counselor issues. While psychologists may take issue with LeBon limiting himself to these three approaches rather than showing how philosophy can be applied to or used in conjunction with, for instance, psychodynamic therapy, his discussion of EC and CBT, both philosophical by nature, is of use to the philosophical counselor. His ability to relate philosophical concepts to counseling concerns is admirable and attests to the skill and knowledge he possesses as a working counselor.

But, by far the most important part of LeBon's book to PC is the last chapter, "The Counsellor's Philosophical Toolbox". Some of what is discussed in this chapter will be familiar to any philosopher, but his summary of critical thinking techniques and conceptual analysis are still worthwhile reading. The true gems here are his "Charles Darwin Method" and "RSVP". The Charles Darwin Method (148-49) is a formalized 7-step version of the decision making procedure used by Darwin to decide whether to get married. While this method may seem obvious, it is presented in a way that makes it accessible and, therefore, more practically useful to clients. It is used to evaluate reasons for and against everything from actions to emotions, and LeBon gives adequate examples, even from his own life (78-9), throughout the text. The basic process is simple: one states and evaluates reasons for truth, relevance, and strength. While this seems straightforward, it is LeBon's presentation of the procedure which makes it a valuable counseling tool.

LeBon's development of RSVP, which stands for "Refined Subjective Value Procedure", is extremely useful. The main goal of RSVP is to help the client, or the counselor herself, develop more enlightened values. While the procedure itself is involved, a client with the counselor's assistance should have no trouble working through all of the steps, and more motivated clients can use it as a self-help exercise as it is presented in the book for the counselor's own benefit. The basic procedure involves identifying and evaluating various values to determine not only what the client does value but also what the client should value. It involves creative thinking to determine possible values, conceptual analysis to gain understanding of those values, and critical thinking to determine whether the remaining values are worthwhile. The process can be viewed as engaging in a form of Socratic dialogue with oneself, guided, perhaps, by a counselor. . . .

Overall, Wise Therapy is worth reading, and I believe that all philosophical counselors, especially those new to the field, can benefit from what LeBon offers.

Tim Lebon's excellent book provides an eminently clear and concise way of applying philosophical principles to basic counselling issues. Rather than abstract pontification, he provides clear steps outlined with concrete examples, and even a final chapter outlining the philosophical toolbox he's developed. Tim considers the relationship between philosophical practice and different modalities of psychotherapy and self-help including existential-humanistic approaches and CBT. This is an easy book to read and will immediately provide any counsellor or therapist with practical techniques that can be employed with clients when working from a philosophical basis. I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in practical philosophy, whether philosopher or therapist/counsellor, particularly to those interested in decision-making and problem-solving in therapy, where I think it has a lot to offer.

Donald Robertson, author of,

The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Stoic Philosophy as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy

The Discovery of Hypnosis: The Complete Writings of James Braid the Father of Hypnotherapy

The Practice of Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy