Counselling and Identity

Self Realisation in a Therapy Culture

Alex Howard

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781350305854
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Psychotherapy
• Index: Psychology

Questions relating to personal identity are of central importance within counselling, which is often seen as an essentially (and perhaps excessively) 'me-focussed' activity. People often come to counsellors to find, reclaim, come to terms with, or control (aspects of) 'themselves.' They want to see how they have been shaped, helped or damaged by their circumstances. Yet there has been surprisingly little systematic examination of the conceptions of 'self' that are, could be, or should be available to counsellors.
This accessible book meets this need and more deeply than most other texts into the foundations and underlying presuppositions of the subject. Alex Howard takes a fresh look at counselling and psychotherapy and advocates greater philosophical and sociological awareness for trainees.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction: Identity and Why It Matters
• 2 In Search of Self – Counselling and Identity
• 3 Telling What’s Wrong – Narratives and Metaphors of Sickness and Health
• 4 Truth Telling – Identity and Reality
• 5 Honoured and Esteemed? Identity and Happiness
• 6 Feeling Good and Being Good: Identity and Ethics
• 7 What Was It Like For You? – Measuring and Assessing Change in Identity
• 8 Transcending Self: Identity, Society and the Transpersonal
• 9 Conclusion – Identities, Past, Present and Future
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index