Jerry N. Downing is Training Director at the Counseling Center, University of San Francisco.

"Jerry Downing … has written a remarkable book, which clearly articulates the ways in which our ideas of reality (ontology) and knowledge (epistemology) contribute to the variety of endeavors that we call psychotherapy." — Transcultural Psychiatry"This book brings clarity to any examination of the philosophical underpinnings of psychological practice." — Lisa Hoshmand, author of Orientation to Inquiry in a Reflective Professional Psychology"I think the topic is very significant. In this Age of Information—where there are so many psychotherapeutic theories—we need a philosophical framework to guide us. Downing does a good job of this. His work is comprehensive and scholarly." — John Suler, Rider University and Private Practice

• List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction 1Challenges from the Psychotherapy Literature: What Do Therapists Know?The Proliferation of Therapeutic Theories and MethodsHistorical and Comparative Approaches to PsychotherapyThe Empirical Literature on PsychotherapySubjective Factors in Theory Construction, Selection, and UseMoral and Political Dimensions of Therapy PracticeSummary 2Challenges from Philosophy: What Can Therapists Know? Relevant Philosophical Terms and TrendsA Formulation and Review of Philosophical PositionsPostmodernist Implications for Nihilism and RelativismSummary 3The Revelatory and Restrictive Functions of Psychotherapeutic Theories Misapplications of the Paradigm Concept to the Human SciencesKuhn's History and Philosophy of Science as PsychologyComparisons to the Theories of George Kelly and Carl RogersA Theory about Human Theories 4The Range of Philosophical Assumptions in Psychotherapeutic Theories Does the Objectivist-Constructivist Contrast Apply to Theories, Theorists/Therapists, or Therapeutic Practices?What Are the Varieties of "Constructivism" in Contemporary Psychotherapy?How Does the Objectivist-Constructivist Contrast Relate to Subjectivism and Transpersonalism?Summary and Conclusions 5Philosophical Assumptions as Lived Modes of Knowing Toward the Integration of Philosophy and Lived ExperienceA Framework for Lived Modes of Knowing 6Lived Modes of Knowing in the Therapist's Experience The Realist Mode of KnowingThe Representational Mode of KnowingThe Perspectival Mode of KnowingThe Dialogical Mode of KnowingThe Critical Mode of KnowingThe Nihilistic Mode of Knowing 7Implications for Practice: Toward a Morally Situated Psychotherapy The Risks of Certitude: MPD and Satanic Ritual AbuseThe Necessity and Danger of Therapeutic ConvictionEthics, Morality, and Reflexivity in Therapy PracticeComponents of a Morally Situated (Reflexive) EpistemologyCognitive, Emotional, and Experiential Barriers to Dialectical, Pluralistic Practice References Name Index Subject Index

Jerry N. Downing is Training Director at the Counseling Center, University of San Francisco.

"Jerry Downing … has written a remarkable book, which clearly articulates the ways in which our ideas of reality (ontology) and knowledge (epistemology) contribute to the variety of endeavors that we call psychotherapy." — Transcultural Psychiatry"This book brings clarity to any examination of the philosophical underpinnings of psychological practice." — Lisa Hoshmand, author of Orientation to Inquiry in a Reflective Professional Psychology"I think the topic is very significant. In this Age of Information—where there are so many psychotherapeutic theories—we need a philosophical framework to guide us. Downing does a good job of this. His work is comprehensive and scholarly." — John Suler, Rider University and Private Practice

• List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction 1Challenges from the Psychotherapy Literature: What Do Therapists Know?The Proliferation of Therapeutic Theories and MethodsHistorical and Comparative Approaches to PsychotherapyThe Empirical Literature on PsychotherapySubjective Factors in Theory Construction, Selection, and UseMoral and Political Dimensions of Therapy PracticeSummary 2Challenges from Philosophy: What Can Therapists Know? Relevant Philosophical Terms and TrendsA Formulation and Review of Philosophical PositionsPostmodernist Implications for Nihilism and RelativismSummary 3The Revelatory and Restrictive Functions of Psychotherapeutic Theories Misapplications of the Paradigm Concept to the Human SciencesKuhn's History and Philosophy of Science as PsychologyComparisons to the Theories of George Kelly and Carl RogersA Theory about Human Theories 4The Range of Philosophical Assumptions in Psychotherapeutic Theories Does the Objectivist-Constructivist Contrast Apply to Theories, Theorists/Therapists, or Therapeutic Practices?What Are the Varieties of "Constructivism" in Contemporary Psychotherapy?How Does the Objectivist-Constructivist Contrast Relate to Subjectivism and Transpersonalism?Summary and Conclusions 5Philosophical Assumptions as Lived Modes of Knowing Toward the Integration of Philosophy and Lived ExperienceA Framework for Lived Modes of Knowing 6Lived Modes of Knowing in the Therapist's Experience The Realist Mode of KnowingThe Representational Mode of KnowingThe Perspectival Mode of KnowingThe Dialogical Mode of KnowingThe Critical Mode of KnowingThe Nihilistic Mode of Knowing 7Implications for Practice: Toward a Morally Situated Psychotherapy The Risks of Certitude: MPD and Satanic Ritual AbuseThe Necessity and Danger of Therapeutic ConvictionEthics, Morality, and Reflexivity in Therapy PracticeComponents of a Morally Situated (Reflexive) EpistemologyCognitive, Emotional, and Experiential Barriers to Dialectical, Pluralistic Practice References Name Index Subject Index

Jerry N. Downing is Training Director at the Counseling Center, University of San Francisco.

"Jerry Downing … has written a remarkable book, which clearly articulates the ways in which our ideas of reality (ontology) and knowledge (epistemology) contribute to the variety of endeavors that we call psychotherapy." — Transcultural Psychiatry"This book brings clarity to any examination of the philosophical underpinnings of psychological practice." — Lisa Hoshmand, author of Orientation to Inquiry in a Reflective Professional Psychology"I think the topic is very significant. In this Age of Information—where there are so many psychotherapeutic theories—we need a philosophical framework to guide us. Downing does a good job of this. His work is comprehensive and scholarly." — John Suler, Rider University and Private Practice

• List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction 1Challenges from the Psychotherapy Literature: What Do Therapists Know?The Proliferation of Therapeutic Theories and MethodsHistorical and Comparative Approaches to PsychotherapyThe Empirical Literature on PsychotherapySubjective Factors in Theory Construction, Selection, and UseMoral and Political Dimensions of Therapy PracticeSummary 2Challenges from Philosophy: What Can Therapists Know? Relevant Philosophical Terms and TrendsA Formulation and Review of Philosophical PositionsPostmodernist Implications for Nihilism and RelativismSummary 3The Revelatory and Restrictive Functions of Psychotherapeutic Theories Misapplications of the Paradigm Concept to the Human SciencesKuhn's History and Philosophy of Science as PsychologyComparisons to the Theories of George Kelly and Carl RogersA Theory about Human Theories 4The Range of Philosophical Assumptions in Psychotherapeutic Theories Does the Objectivist-Constructivist Contrast Apply to Theories, Theorists/Therapists, or Therapeutic Practices?What Are the Varieties of "Constructivism" in Contemporary Psychotherapy?How Does the Objectivist-Constructivist Contrast Relate to Subjectivism and Transpersonalism?Summary and Conclusions 5Philosophical Assumptions as Lived Modes of Knowing Toward the Integration of Philosophy and Lived ExperienceA Framework for Lived Modes of Knowing 6Lived Modes of Knowing in the Therapist's Experience The Realist Mode of KnowingThe Representational Mode of KnowingThe Perspectival Mode of KnowingThe Dialogical Mode of KnowingThe Critical Mode of KnowingThe Nihilistic Mode of Knowing 7Implications for Practice: Toward a Morally Situated Psychotherapy The Risks of Certitude: MPD and Satanic Ritual AbuseThe Necessity and Danger of Therapeutic ConvictionEthics, Morality, and Reflexivity in Therapy PracticeComponents of a Morally Situated (Reflexive) EpistemologyCognitive, Emotional, and Experiential Barriers to Dialectical, Pluralistic Practice References Name Index Subject Index