Our Commitment to Confidentiality

Gnosis Arts takes your privacy seriously. We will never share any personally-identifiable information about you to anyone outside our organization, or to anyone inside our organization who doesn't have a need to know. We will not ask you about your personal medical, psychiatric or physical or psychological history.

About Eric Bryant, Philosophical Counselor

Eric Bryant, Spiritual Counselor

Eric Bryant founded Gnosis Arts Multimedia Communications in 2007. 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 and is a member of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association ( http://appa.edu/probryant.htm).


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What Philosophical Counseling Is Not

Philosophical Counseling is not an alternative to traditional counseling, social work, psychotherapy, cognitive therapy or other behavioral modification therapies. Nor is it a substitute for these. In our opinion, philosophical counseling best serves as a complement to these other forms of counseling. In our personal experience, philosophical counseling, using the I Ching, can help us get clearer on what we need to learn during conventional therapy sessions. It goes alongside as a complement, not a replacement.



Additional Philosophical Counseling Resources:

Philosophical Counseling

What Is Philosophical Counseling?

Truth be told, philosophical counseling (or philosophical practice, as it is called in some circles) is really just an application of applied philosophy. In contrast to academic philosophy, which is usually confined to more theoretical studies in philosophical discourse, applied philosophy (AP) seeks to use philosophical thinking (e.g., thinking about morality, metaphysics, political theory, etc.) to solve practical problems.

Philosophical counseling is one version of AP. It uses the methods of philosophical discourse to counsel individuals on real life, day-to-day obstacles and struggles. Philosophical discourse involves the best traditions of metaphysical (spiritual), existential and moral thinking and tries to apply that thinking to concrete situations for the overall improvement of the client's psychological and emotional well-being.

A philosophical therapist typically has a specialized training and degree in the branch of knowledge known as Philosophy. Literally the "love of wisdom", Philosophy touches upon five basic areas of human understanding:

  1. Metaphysics (a very broad subject; with respect to counseling, inquiry into the justification and benefit of spiritual/religious reality for an individual)
  2. Epistemology (a broad subject, but in counseling, uses Aristotelian logic to disclose self-defeating thought-patterns and insights in Philosophy of Mind to illumine the unconscious)
  3. Ethics (the nature of moral choices, e.g., conscience, right and justice, as well as virtue, good character and the good life)
  4. Politics (truths pertaining to the political/economic order; in terms of counseling, often draws upon the principles of social work)
  5. Esthetics (notions of beauty, goodness and pleasure; with respect to counseling, applies ethics to relationships)


A philosophical practitioner has unique insight into these branches of inquiry and how to use them to help clients achieve self-actualizing conduct.

The I Ching: A Tool for Philosophical Counseling

The I Ching is an oracle. The best metaphor that comes to mind when describing an "oracle" is the oracle in the movie "The Matrix". In the movie, the oracle is personified in the person of a middle-aged African American woman The woman has much wisdom and insight into the nature of the world the protagonists find themselves in, and therefore she acts as a guide. She warns them of pitfalls and educates them on the "rules" of the ontological system in which they live. In other words, she's a counselor.

Well, the I Ching is one such oracle. Whether there are real personalities that speak through the words and symbols of the book or not, there's little doubt that the book is a sort of guide. The I Ching not only gives sound advice about how to navigate through the physical realm - it also gives insight into one's own metaphysical realm, that is, the subconscious. How it does this, we are not quite sure, but we know it does because we've experienced it.

Now, in this regard, the I Ching makes an excellent tool in philosophical counseling. It serves as a therapeutic tool by virtue of the fact that it aids in the disclosure of the meaning of subconscious elements. It is a philosophical tool in that it helps us get clearer on the moral and metaphysical significance behind what we're thinking, feeling and perceiving in the world around us.


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