PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELING TRAINING PROGRAM (online)
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Dr. Ran Lahav
PROGRAM DATES: September 15, 2025 – February 26, 2026
Mondays and Thursdays, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm CET
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SUMMARY: This is a 21-week training program (September 2025—February 2025), purely online, aimed at training students to become philosophical counselors. It is directed by Dr. Ran Lahav, one of the pioneers of philosophical counseling in the world. Classes meet online twice a week for 90 minutes, on Mondays and Thursdays at 3:30 pm Central Europe Time. Cost: $380 USD per term ($1140 USD for the entire program). Need-based discounts are available.
PROGRAM GOALS: To give students basic knowledge and practicing skills, covering the theory, methods, and practice of philosophical counseling. We envision “wise and skilled counselors” who have both a solid understanding of what they are doing, and the practical ability to conduct an effective counseling process.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Dr. Ran Lahav (PhD in philosophy, MA in Psychology) is one of the pioneers of philosophical practice / counseling in the world. He initiated and co-organized the first ICPP (International Conference on Philosophical Practice) in 1994; He was the first in the world to teach university courses on philosophical counseling; He published books and articles on the topic, and gave numerous workshops and presentations around the world.
TIME: This is a 21-week program, consisting of three 7-week terms. Classes meet online twice a week, in the evenings (3:30 pm, Central European Time), for 90 minutes each meeting. The program begins on Monday September 15, 2025 and ends on February 26, 2026.
MAIN TOPICS OF STUDY (Theory, methodology and practice):
(1) History and general principles of philosophical counseling.
(2) Lahav’s “The Power of ideas” approach – Theory and methods, case-studies, guided exercises, practice and supervision.
(3) Useful ideas and methods from psychotherapy.
(4) The art of conducting a philosophical counseling conversation.
(5) Guiding the counselee in philosophical self-reflection.
COST: $380 USD per term x 3 terms ($1140 USD for the entire program). The first $100 is due with registration. Payment for the first two semesters is due before classes begin. Payment for the third term is due in January. Need-based discounts are available.
TO REGISTER: Write to us to express interest at Deep.Philo@yahoo.com. Write a brief description of your academic / professional background. We will instruct you how to pay the $100 registration fee, which will count as part of the overall participation price. Registration period until August 31 or until all places are filled. Early registration is recommended, since the number of places is limited. Last year we could not accept all applicants.
CERTIFICATE: Upon successful completion of the program, students will receive a Philosophical Counselor Certificate on behalf of the Deep Philosophy School. We are a private school, and our certificates are not state-licensed.
REQUIREMENTS FOR JOINING THE PROGRAM: Those without a philosophy university degree (or its equivalent) might be required to take an additional Intro to Philosophy course. It will meet once a week after or before a regular meeting, and will cost an additional $50 per term.
THE DEEP PHILOSOPHY SCHOOL was founded by Dr. Ran Lahav to promote philosophical self-reflection, and support an international community of philosophical seekers.
TO RECEIVE UPDATES, add your name and email at: https://forms.gle/EUfEeVjrNR1nA3BW9
FOR QUESTIONS AND REGISTRATION: Write to us at: Deep.Philo@yahoo.com
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRAINING PROGRAM
1. “The Power of Ideas” Approach
In our training program we will learn the main approaches to counseling and philosophical counseling, but we will focus on Ran Lahav’s “The Power of Ideas” approach.
To understand this approach, let us ask ourselves: How can a counseling be philosophical?
One approach (by Achenbach, Gutknecht, Lindseth, etc.) tells us that philosophy means a free dialogue without assumptions. The role of the philosophical counselor is to engage counselees in a free and open dialogue about their lives, without methods and without guidelines.
Another approach (by Van Rossem, Tromp, Brenifier, etc.) tells us that philosophy means logical analysis, or critical thinking. The role of the philosophical counselor is to help counselees analyze their thoughts and behavior.
“The Power of Ideas” approach, developed by Ran Lahav and others, goes in a different direction. It reminds us that philosophy is philo-sophia, which in Greek means Love of Wisdom. The great philosophers have composed a treasure of ideas about love, freedom, ethics, beauty, meaning, and life in general. The role of philosophical counselors is to use this treasure of wisdom in order to inspire counselees to reflect on their lives deeply. These philosophical ideas are not “truths” to follow blindly, but they have the power to inspire us, give us food for thought, deepen our self-understanding, and expand our lives.
In this training program we will learn the basic principles of this approach, its methods and techniques, using a variety of case-studies and guided exercises. For us, good counselors know both theory and practice. They have practical skills, but also a solid theoretical understanding of what they are doing.
2. The concept of “Plato’s Cave”
In our Philosophical Counseling Training Program (September 15, 2025—February 26, 2025) we will examine several approaches to counseling, but we will focus primarily on Ran Lahav’s “Power of ideas” approach, also called the “Stepping out of Plato’s cave” approach.
At the heart of this approach is the counselee’s overall attitude to life, or her way of being in the world. This means that the counseling focuses not on solving specific “problematic” behaviors or feelings, but on the counselee’s attitude to life as a whole.
That’s what the counselor helps to explore and expand. In most cases we will find that the counselee’s attitude to life is limited to certain rigid patterns of thoughts and emotions, which limit him to a narrow repertoire of behaviors. This narrow attitude to life functions as the “cave” in Plato’s famous allegory.
“PLATO’S CAVE” is a central concept in our philosophical counseling. Most people, like the prisoners in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, are imprisoned in a narrow, rigid attitude to life. This makes their life limited and superficial. In our training program you will learn how to explore with counselees their personal “cave” and help them find ways to step beyond it towards a fuller life.
3. List of courses
This training Program consists of 6 courses. Each course meets 7 times, once a week, for 7 weeks. All meetings start at 3:30 pm CET time (Central Europe Time), and last 90 minutes.
TERM 1 (September 15 – October 31, 2025)
COURSE 1 (Mondays): INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELING – HISTORY, PRINCIPLES, APPROACHES. [Theory, analysis of videos, practical exercises.]
COURSE 2 (Thursdays): THE PHILOSOPHICAL-COUNSELING DIALOGUE – LESSONS FROM PSYCHOTHERAPY. [Theory, case analyses, discussions of videos, practical exercises.]
TERM 2 (November 3 – December 19, 2025)
COURSE 3 (Mondays): EXPLORING THE COUNSELEE’S WORLD – CONCEPTS, METHODS, PROCEDURES, focusing on Stage 1 of the counseling process. [Theory, methodology, case analyses, exercises, guided practice.]
COURSE 4 (Thursdays): THE POWER OF PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS – USING TEXT-CONTEMPLATION FOR DEEPER SELF-UNDERSTANDING, focusing on Stage 2 of the counseling process. [Theory, methods, guided practice.]
TERM 3 (January 5 – February 26, 2026)
COURSE 5 (Mondays): STEPPING BEYOND – WORKING WITH COUNSELEES ON INNER DEPTH, focusing on Stage 3 of the counseling process. [Theory, methods, exercises and guided practice.]
COURSE 6 (Thursdays): INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES AND SUPERVISED COUNSELING.
4. HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE PROGRAM
Early registration is highly recommended, in order to secure your place. Last year we could not accept all the applicants.
The procedure of enrollment in the program consists of three simple steps:
TO SECURE YOUR PLACE:
First, send us an email telling us that you have decided to enroll in our Philosophical Counseling Training Program. Also, please describe briefly your academic and professional background, especially in philosophy and psychology. At this stage a paragraph or two would be enough.
Second, you are asked to pay a registration fee of $100 to our PayPal account. This sum will be part of the payment for the two terms of 2025 (September-December). Our PayPal account is associated with the email: deep.philo@yahoo.com, but to make it simpler for you, let us know and we will send you a “request” from our PayPal account to which you can respond. Once you pay the registration fee, your place in the program is ensured.
BEFORE SEPTEMBER:
Third, if you have studied philosophy courses at a university in the past, please send us some document that indicates what you have studied. Although academic background in philosophy is not necessary, those without background might have to take an additional course of one hour per week, intro to Philosophy, immediately before or after one of the regular Monday or Thursday meeting.
If you have not studied university philosophy courses, then no university transcript is needed. If by mid-September we do not receive from you your university transcripts, we will assume that you have not studied philosophy at university level.
FOR QUESTIONS: Write to us at: Deep.Philo@yahoo.com
TO RECEIVE UPDATES ON THE PC TRAINING PROGRAM: Add your name and email at: https://forms.gle/EUfEeVjrNR1nA3BW9