For over two millenniums of western philosophy, great thinkers have enlightened the world with their wisdom suggesting ways to understand life through language, logical thinking and phenomenology. Clinical philosophy uses this knowledge in order to help the person having a better life. But those who think that Clinical Philosophy is just a kind of counseling, are wrong. It's much more than that.
Brazilian philosopher Lúcio Packter came up with the idea of Clinical Philosophy after he came to the realization that traditional Psychiatry and Psychology couldn't deal with certain aspects of the human existence as not all of issues that people may face in their lives are either medical or psychological phenomena. Searching in academic philosophy for ways to diminish people´s sufferings, Packter systematized a kind of therapy that is based on each one's singularity.
Pathologies – A Philosophical Approach
Traditional psychology and psychiatry assume that there is a model of sanity that must be followed. All behaviours that are different from those considered "normal," are wrong and therefore, these behaviors need to be controlled or repaired. The implicit presupposition of this is that all kinds of suffering are a result of a distance from the standard model, and therefore, all the efforts in the clinic aim to lead the patient towards the "ideal" way of being.
Clinical Philosophy understands that there are no pathological behaviours that are "opposite" to normal behaviours. That is, there´s no "right" or "wrong" ways of being, but many different ways of being. Right or wrong, pathological or normal, depends on the context of the person and his or her singularity, but nothing is wrong in itself. This theory holds that if there is a method that works for a sharer — the client is called sharer rather than patient — that same method will not necessarily work for another; this is why the clinical philosopher must investigate the structure of thought of each person before one can identify the best solutions for him or her.
No wonder that many internal conflicts come from a feeling of inadequacy with the world's structure, and Clinical Philosophy, if this is the case, will show the that nobody necessarily has to be a perfect model of normality if this is bringing suffering, because normality or sanity shouldn't be measured by comparison to a model, but by the sharer´s own beliefs. Any kind of intervention that does not respect this principle, is assuming that the therapist owns a formula to fix one's problems, and Clinical Philosophy opposes to this as it strongly believes that the key to everyone´s satisfaction is hidden in their structure of thought and not in the therapist's judgment of "right" or "wrong."
The main premises of known therapies are:
- Most of people's issues are a result of unresolved conflicts in the childhood. Bringing these conflicts to the conscious mind will reverberate positively in the solution of the actual issue (psychoanalysis), and;
- Man is a conditionable being. It's possible to change a person's behaviour by reinforcing the behaviours that need to be achieved or punishing/ignoring the ones that need to be extinguished. The roots of the behaviours don't need to be known in order to be changed, only their consequences. (Behaviourism)
Psychoanalysis will work for people who, in their structure of thought, only manage to solve a problem after understanding the causes behind that problem, behaviourism will work for those whose the structures of thought admit changes without having to find the roots of an issue. Other people will need medicine in order to have a better life, and the clinical philosopher will work with a doctor to prescribe the medication, if this is the case. A philosopher needs to have in mind that each person is unique and therefore, using the same therapeutical premises to every person leads to failure.
Structure of Thought and Clinical Philosophy
The clinical philosopher will understand one's structure of thought after listening to his or her history, knowing what is determinant to that person, what makes him or her reach the objectives, how he or she sees the world, learns new things, communicates with others, etc. There's a list of thirty topics to be investigated but usually only a few topics will carry determinant information for the therapist to start shaping an intervention for that specific person.
So, the role of the clinical philosopher is not to lead the sharer towards a normality that has been pre-established by a social convention. This treatment model seeks to lead the sharers towards their best possibilities according to their own understanding of what is a great way to live life, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of another or break laws.
Helping the sharers manage their singularities and the world's structure without losing responsibility and without losing their uniqueness is a goal to be achieved in the clinical approach.
To learn more about clinical philosophy, visit the website to access articles and other educational material.
Sources:
- Packter, Lúcio. Clinical Philosophy: propedeutics.Garapuvu, 2001.
- Goya, Will. Listening and Silence: Lessons from Dialog in Clinical Philosophy. UCG, 2008.
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