Psychotherapy & Counselling – A Stoic Perspective

1
Psychotherapy Counselling A Stoic Perspective
2

• Psychotherapy is often seen as a relatively new
  discipline dating from the late nineteenth
  century. Freud, whose popularity seems to wax
  and wane, died less than eighty years ago and
  other dominant figures in early psychotherapy
  such as Jung and Klein also belong very much in
  in the twentieth century. The development of
  psychotherapy and counselling has continued apace
  with the emergence of different modalities such
  as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT),
• Existential Therapy, Personal Centred Therapy
  and Brief Solution Focused Therapy (BSFT).
  Additional approaches such as Dialectical
  Behavioural Therapy are of more recent vintage
  and the psychotherapy world has also in recent
  years heavily bought into concepts such as
  Mindfulness.

3

• Yet the assertion that these variants are
  imaginative new ideas in the world of therapy
  does not always survive close scrutiny. I have
  remarked before on the similarity between
  psychotherapy and some aspects of management
  philosophy. In both disciplines, there is a
  tendency to claim a slight variation on an
  existing theme as a radical innovation. In truth
  the adage of old wine in new bottles is probably
  a more apt descriptor.
• Some of the basic tenets of therapy go back far
  beyond the nineteenth century to a distant age.
  Glimpses of Freuds study in his apartment in
  Berggasse in Vienna and then at Maresfield
  Gardens, London, shows an interesting collection
  of artefacts from the ancient world. Whether
  Freud acquired these for decoration or
  inspiration is not clear. Nevertheless certain
  schools of thought from classical times have
  indirectly at least contributed to the
  development of some of the newer therapies. One
  classical movement with a strong impact is the
  Stoic school.

4

• The Stoics and in particular the philosopher
  Epictetus have cast a long shadow which extends
  across to much contemporary cognitive thought.
  Epictetus, a Greek, who lived from circa AD 55 to
  AD 135, is well known through a collection of
  sayings, the influence of which extend beyond
  philosophy to the basic tenets of current CBT.
  Visit Basingstoke Counselling for more details
  and information.