Talks About
Consciousness

Consciousness is a dynamic process, and one that is under serious study and research in modern science. Consciousness is an important integrating theme in counseling and psychotherapy.

Consciousness is concerned with the capacity to make the unknown, or the less known, more known. Since ancient times, human behavior has maintained an on-going effort to become more conscious, and to understand the nature of consciousness.

It seems important to make a distinction between “conscious” and “conscience.” Conscience is connected to the capacity to become more and more empathic – to know about and to care about “the other.” Consciousness is connected to the capacity to become more and more aware – aware of "the self" and of "the other". The suspicion is that consciousness requires empathy, or increased conscience. But that is another discussion for another time.

In this place we are concerned with the relationship between (1) consciousness, and (2) counseling and psychotherapy.

Counseling and psychotherapy are concerned with increased awareness of the self and of the other, with an increased capacity for empathy and compassion, all of which result in an increased awareness of the world around us, and of ourselves in that world, which consequently results in an increase in our capacity to make choices that are truly in our best interest, and are more than simply our “best guess.”

If counseling and psychotherapy are about the ability to make choices -- healthier and self-fulfilling choices -- then they must also be about the ability to become more aware.