Philosophical Counseling Dictionary - A Glossary for Counselors & Practitioners

Some definitions taken from Dictionary.com

American Counseling Association: An organization dedicated to the growth of the counseling profession as a whole and providing resources and support to professional counselors.

Axiology: the branch of philosophy dealing with values, as those of ethics, aesthetics, or religion.

Clinical Psychology: Psychological counseling to remedy pathological mental and/or personality disorders

Correctional Counseling: Counseling serivces geared toward the incarcerated or those with behavioral disorders

Counseling Certificate: A formal certification to become a licensed Philosophical Practitioner; a certification progam is offered through the American Philosophical Practitioners Association

Depth Psychology: The principles by which psychoanalysis operates and is justified

Divination: the use of oracles or religious texts to solve psychological or existential problems

Dialectic: A process of reasoning involving thesis, anti-thesis, synthesis: G.W.F. HEGEL; loosely, any form of reasoning, logic, or discourse that uses dialog and questioning to arrive at truth

Dream Interpretation & Analysis: the meditation upon, and granting of significance to, dreams in order to remedy psychological or social maladjustment

Epistemology: a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.

Esthetics: the branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic, etc., as applicable to the fine arts, with a view to establishing the meaning and validity of critical judgments concerning works of art, and the principles underlying or justifying such judgments; also, the study of the mind and emotions in relation to the sense of beauty.

Ethics: the branch of philosophy dealing with duty, obligation & virtue

Etiology: any study of causes, causation, or causality, as in philosophy, biology, or physics.

Existential, Existentialism: Of or pertaining to issues of individual existence and experience; a philosophical attitude associated esp. with Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel, and Sartre, and opposed to rationalism and empiricism, that stresses the individual's unique position as a self-determining agent responsible for the authenticity of his or her choices.

Freudian Psychology: named after Austrian psychotherapist, Sigmund Freud. Freud was Jung's intellectual predecessor and is often considered the father of depth psychology.

Gnosis: A Greek word roughly meaning insight, knowledge, inner wisdom, intuitive understanding, etc.

Humanism, Humanistic Discipline: A philosophy suggesting that the individual is the source and standard of moral judgment and responsibility

Humanities: literature, philosophy, art, etc., as distinguished from the natural sciences.

Hypnotherapy: psychotherapy that facilitates suggestion, re-education, or analysis by means of hypnosis or submlinal messages

Jungian Psychology: Named after Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung; a form of psychotherapy the goal of which is individuation. Many Jungian psychologists use symbology, linguistics and myth to disclose and remedy mental disorders.

Jurisprudence: A subdivision of philosophy of law dealing with ethical questions concerning the administration of justice within a society

Literary Criticism: The branch of humanities and rhetorical studies involving critiques of contemporary culture through the ue and study of literature and writing.

Logic: the science that investigates the principles governing correct or reliable inference; e.g., Deontic, Propositional, Non-Propositional, Symbolic

Mental Hygiene: A popular term referring to the "cleanliness" of one's mind; a measure of how mentally sane or health and individual is.

Metaphysics: the branch of philosophy that treats of first principles, includes ontology and cosmology, and is intimately connected with epistemology.

Moral Philosophy: A subdivision of ethics that deals with the meaning and justification of moral judgments.

Philosophical Counseling: An emerging profession combining orthodox and non-orthodox psychological theories with philosophical method and inquiry to produce therapeutic results

Philosophical Practitoner: A counselor or psychotherapist who utilizes philosophical principles or methods in therapeutic settings

Philosophy of Law: The branch of political philosophy dealing with the justification of legal rules, social contract, and authority

Prophecy: foretelling the future or elucidating unique insight through the reception of communication from a metaphysical realm

Psychiatry: The branch of medicine dealing with the proper medication of biochemical brain dysfunction

Psychoanalysis: Lit. "Analysis of the Psyche"; a branch of psychology that attempts to remedy social maladjustment by means of uncovering hidden or repressed elements of consciousness

Psychopathology: The study of the causes, conditions, symptoms and treatment of psychic disorders

Psychotherapeutics: The systematic and scientific study of the validity and effectiveness of psychological counseling approaches

Psychotherapy: Often used interchangeably with "psychoanalysis" and "depth psychology"; the use of the latter to remedy psychic, behavioral, moral and/or social maladjustment

Soothsaying: Roughly defined, the art of prophecy, divination, divine communication or fortune-telling; e.g., palmistry, tarot cards, astrology

Transcendentalism, Transcendental Philosophy: Also called transcendental philosophy. Any philosophy based upon the doctrine that the principles of reality are to be discovered by the study of the processes of thought, or a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical: in the U.S., associated with Emerson.

Additional Resources & Information About Philosophy, Counseling, Psychology & Psychoanalysis

"Gnosis" is a Greek word meaning "insight" or "knowledge." From Socrates to St. Paul, Michaelangelo to Mozart, the world's finest artists, musicians, poets and philosophers used the term to refer to wisdom gained from lived experience. Gnosis epitomizes the art of living, the highest inner truths disclosed to humanity through art, music, poetry and spirituality.

To find out more about Gnosis Arts services, contact the NJ philosophical counseling services of Gnosis Arts for a consultation!

Eric Bryant founded GNOSIS ARTS Music & Writing Services in 2007. He is a professional musician, published writer and jazz composer who has performed nationally in Texas, California and New Jersey. He has 21 years professional musical experience, and his musical styles include classical, jazz and gospel.

Mr. Bryant holds degrees in Philosophy and Comparative Religion from The University of Texas at Austin. He has done intensive studies in Christian theology, Continental European Philosophy and Jungian psychology. His studies have taken him to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. He is currently an Internet Marketing copywriter and consultant in New Providence, New Jersey.

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