Philosophical Consultation

Are you struggling with the big questions of philosophy: God, the limits of human knowledge, free will, the point of existence? Do you feel overwhelmed by disruptive thoughts or trapped in patterns of behavior unconducive to fulfilling your goals and connecting to others? Would you like some help with overcoming personal predicaments, reigning in emotions, and attaining greater tranquility? I am here to walk alongside you as a friendly conversant while helping you make constructive changes. Here to listen to your stories without judgment, my hope is to inspire you to feel secure in yourself and in your relationships even as you reach for high challenges. Together we can work on addressing old wounds (learning to own them while stripping them of their power to sabotage); becoming more secure and resilient (learning to feel safe in impermanence and to accept the harsh givens of existence); discovering your gifts (learning the hidden powers of what you might consider a personal weakness); bringing vitality into your life (learning to engage in hobbies and relationships with a sense of excitement rather than fear); actualizing your creative capabilities (learning techniques conquer your inner saboteur and to overcome habits that are not serving you well).

As a philosophical consultant, my approach tends to orbit around accomplishing two main goals. First, my goal is to help you become aware of any irrational thinking (logical leaps, unrealistic presumptions, extreme ideas) that might be settling you into regrettable courses of action or that might be making your life predicaments less manageable than they otherwise could be. Second, my goal is to help you overcome such irrational thinking, even if deeply ingrained, by acquainting you with philosopher-informed antidotes congenial to your larger belief structure.

Sessions, although highly catered to the needs of the client, tend to be solution-oriented and often unfold in three main steps. First, I spot the irrationality—the improper reasoning or suspect presumptions or self-defeating principles or so on—surrounding your specific struggle. Second, I explain why exactly what was identified as irrational really is irrational and how that irrationality contributes to your struggle (at least by adding unnecessary self-torture). Third, and often through attending to the advice of the great philosophers of the past, together we explore possible ways to surmount or at least lighten the stress load of the struggle. The hope is that you use your logic-informed skills for spotting faulty thinking and for making better decisions, skills reinforced by the insights of the great philosophers of history, to become your most efficacious and adjusted self—an integrated self better equipped to overcome barriers, experience gratitude, feel more secure in the face of uncertainty, sense dysfunctional relationship patterns, live up to personal ideals, manage the inner critic, enforce boundaries, relocate to healthy environments, direct powerful emotions (even when fueled by powerful bodily sensations: rapid heart beat, dry mouth) to productive ends.