Nichole Smith, MA

What is philosophical counselling?

Philosophical counselling is essentially using the power of dialogue to consciously work through whatever problems you're having in life. Strictly speaking, you could have these conversations with a friend, relative, mentor, or whoever else is willing to seriously attend to how you're thinking about your life. The value of hiring a professional like me is in my deep familiarity with a rich variety of philosophical traditions, pathways people take through life's challenges, and providing people with the mental framing of their problems they need to overcome them.

I'm here to help you think through your options and how they line up with your personal values and beliefs, not diagnose you with a disorder or disease. People are realizing people without medical problems still need help taking care of their mental and spiritual health. Moreover, being told a medical name for the cause of your problem doesn't offer a solution. You may not think that figuring out what to do about some major life decisions is a medical issue. Health is valuable, no doubt, but sometimes we need help with other things.

I offer the wisdom from as wide a variety of schools of thought, from people doing different things in different times and places. I'm not a religious leader, nor an ideologue, so I do not tell you what to believe. Instead, I help you use what others have discovered already to develop your beliefs in line with your values.

About Me

My education includes a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Mathematics and Philosophy, at Valparaiso University. I also studied the humanities more broadly in their Christ College honors college. After that, I went to the University of California, Riverside, where I earned my Master of Arts in Philosophy. I spent a few more years researching and learning, and left for independent study prior to completing the Ph.D program. I also took the opportunity to take graduate courses in Psychology and Creative Writing. My research is generally about consciousness, personality, and the ethics of healthcare.

The life experience I bring to my counselling practice is pretty wide-ranging. I've been a conflict manager for an elementary school, repaired and upgraded laptops to make money in high school, managed a radio station in college. I've had my writing gain a minor international following, presided over an organization of 4,000 teachers and researchers, played music concerts. I've always just wanted to do all I can with life. I got lucky with a brain that learns almost anything pretty quickly, so I get to study anything human knowledge has to offer. I want to make some of the benefits of it available to others, like you.

I've also had many difficult experiences that help me understand some clients better. I've overcome poverty, homelessness, addiction, and severe mental illness. I've had to recover from the trauma of violence and have needed extended hospital stays. I don't want to be too graphic on this page, but you're welcome to ask me to elaborate.

This is all to say, I've seen a lot of what life has to offer, good and bad. So regardless of who you are, what you've done, or what you're dealing with, I will work with you.

My Approach

Since each individual has unqiue needs that are ever-changing, I pay close attention to what you say every time and think through some options to present to you. This almost always involves me doing research, gathering resources, making plans, and sometimes writing up readings or worksheets for you. While the details of the plan will be unique, I do follow this general plan, called the PEACE model:

• Identify the Problem: Clients generally already know what their problem is, though it can be helpful to carefully make it clear exactly what it is.
• Feel your Emotions: I provide a space to express yourself freely enough for you to feel what you need to feel, and then we can identify how your feelings are affecting your situation.
• Analyze your Options: With an open mind, we explore what's possible or not, what's desireable in a choice, and how each might play out.
• Contemplate: With your possibilities outlined, we talk through your overall life philosophy and how potential choices may fit with it.
• Execute: After deciding what to do, the next step is to do it. This may be the end of our time together, or you may continue to want counselling to see you through the inevitable unforseen difficulties you may encounter.

Areas of Specialization

Some common situations I help with:

• Figuring out a direction in life
• Making major decisions at work or home
• Learning to control your emotions
• Getting over ended relationships
• Living with chronic mental or physical illness
• Understanding how other people think and feel
• Creating a coherent narrative of your life
• Finding your identity
• Dealing with stress
• Addiction, to substances or behaviors
• Finding reasons to live
• Getting rid of unwanted thoughts or feelings

Other things I help with include:

• Navigating the healthcare academic and healthcare systems
• Understanding technical, medical, and legal documents
• Computers
• Schoolwork
• Budgeting money, time, and other resources
• Learning to adult

Relationship between philosophical and psychological practice

Psychotherapy and psychiatry address many of the same problems philosophical counsellors do, but using a model with an ideal of normal and healthy, from which abberations are defects, diseases, and disorders. For people with mental illnesses, they do offer valuable services that I may encourage prior to, at the same time as, or after philosophical counselling. They generally focus on identifying and naming problems, and following established pracitices. The analysis, contemplation, and execution aspects of problem-solving are much less likely to be addressed.

What happens at the first meeting?

The first meeting is our opportunity to figure out how we might work together, without the stress of having to pay for something that you've yet to actually decide on. Some topics we'll discuss at the first meeting:

• Communication method(s): Video or audio calls, email or text messaging, some other third thing, or some combination. I'm happy to accomodate any preferences in platform you may have (such as Zoom, Messenger, Snapchat, Discord, Google Meets, regular phone/text, etc.) as my goal is to meet you where you're at. I'm also available to meet in person, in Valparaiso, Indiana.
• Frequency & duration: I'm much more flexible than most counsellors about this. There's no limit to how long or short, frequent or infrequent, and consistent or not our appointments are. We'll work together to figure out what suits your needs and schedule. Some people benefit most from an hour a week indefinitely, others may need a week or two of several hours a day, and some still might just schedule appointments or exchange some messages whenever the need arises.
• You!: I need to get to know you and what's importnt to you, so I can know what might be useful to you. I also need to know your abilities and preferences, so we can devise a realistic and desireable plan. You deserve personalized care, and I want to take the time to get to know you well enough to actually provide it.
• Me: I don't intend for any of our time together to be about me, because it is your time. However, you probably want know me a little before deciding if I'm someone you want on your team.
• Your support network: A good support network is important for happy, healthy living. Knowing who you already have on your team lets me know where I might fit in and it's a big piece of information about your situation.
• Your concerns: Perhaps a bit obvious, we have to talk about what it is you want to get out of this. For anything I can't help with, I'll try to connect you with someone who can.
• Payment: My standard rate is $150/hour, as that's what it's worth, and each hour of talking with you requires about two hours of prep on my part. I have a variety of resources to supplement our conversations, such as books, worksheets, and videos, and I use the prep time to package them for you, find additional resources based on your specific problems, and keep up with the most current research on whatever is most relevant to my helping you. However, I know money is often itself a source of trouble, so I offer discounts on the basis of need and availability.