Meaning and Purpose in Life
There is a need to make sense of life and living, a need to find meaning and coherence amid all the chaotic occurrences in our lives. Often this may seem like trying to arrange pieces of a puzzle that do not fit, and this can lead to confusion and frustration. It can also lead to depression and despair.
Philosophical counseling can help.
In other words, each decision and action reflects the outworking of our own personal philosophy—however muddied or unclear this might seem to us at the time. You may not believe that you have a personal philosophy that determines your behavior, but I can safely assure you that, as a rational being, you surely do. Furthermore, I can also assure you that your personal philosophy—like mine and everyone else's—is filled with many distortions and false beliefs, and these reek more havoc in our lives than we realize.
In short, bad decisions are made for a reason. Hurtful actions are also made for a reason. And senseless patterns are repeated for a reason.
This is not a simple process as each of us must be ushered into a gradually increased awareness that allows for critical evaluation of the content of one's personal philosophy. This evaluation for sense and coherence begins the process of replacing false beliefs with true ones so that there is no longer enslavement and bondage to the lies and distortions that affect thought and behavior in unhealthy ways.
Other benefits of philosophical counseling are the following:
The primary focus of this practice is the infinite-personal God of the Bible because I believe this divine entity is the true ground of being and thus the basis of all existence.
The vital point is this:
Without this connection, we are alienated and estranged from the only source of life, so we have no legitimate hope of meaning and fulfillment.
I believe that God gives this vital connection with Himself as a gift when we simply confess our desperate need of salvation. We are then born into His family through the merit of Jesus Christ, and we receive the accepting embrace of the Father. We become connected and “grounded“ with an intimate sense of belonging on the most fundamental level of being. The resulting interpersonal relationship with God helps us to understand all the apparent chaos around us since we now begin to discern and also to experience the reality of God at work in our lives.
Yes, this philosophical practice has an inherent bias—a biblical one. Any philosophical counselor has a set of metaphysical, epistemological and ethical beliefs that he or she holds to be true. Whether this person chooses to express these beliefs openly is another matter. I choose to express mine openly and to work coherently within this framework with those who hold similar beliefs.
BS, Chemistry
Carnegie-Mellon University
MA, PhD, Philosophy & Religious Studies
The University of Connecticut
Philosophical Counselor
(APPA Certification #: CC00232)
For information on the American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA), visit here.
Certified Mental Health Professional
Johnson County, Texas
This practice is established as a ministry to help others.
All services are provided free of charge.
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