Thinking, Theory, and Experience in the Helping Professions

Abstract

The author proposes a phenomenological description of thinking and theory in the experience of therapists, counselors, supervisors, trainers, consultants, and other helping professionals. A model of two related modes of thinking is developed to account for the transition from explicit conceptual thinking to thinking in the moment in the presence of persons and groups. Dependance of thinking on particular points of view and processes, and confrontation with experience through vigilance and evaluation, are also discussed. Finally, some consequences for training and professional evolution are suggested.

• thinking
• theory
• experience
• process
• helping professions
• training
• psychotherapy
• intuition
• interpretation
• evaluation

Notes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

José Grégoire

Author Biography

José Grégoire, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy), is a retired Belgian and French certified therapist, teacher, and supervisor. He is also a master in neurolinguistic programming (New York NLP Institute). He has degrees in mathematics, history of theological systems, philosophy of science, and linguistics. Apart from therapy and transactional analysis theory, his main interests are knowledge and systems of knowledge. José can be reached at Reinsburgerstrasse 128, D-70197 Stuttgart, Germany; email:[email protected]. The author wishes to thank William Cornell for his invaluable help in editing this article.