Who Are We?

Get Philosophical is a philosophical counselling practice, currently made up only of the founder and director, Christopher Mountford. However, we have plans to expand and create a small, passionate team of philosophers eager to set the groundwork for the newly emerging field of philosophical counselling.

Meet Chris

Career:

When Chris was in his third year of his undergraduate degree in philosophy, he took part in a module called “philosophical counselling“. This was the start of his professional career. Here he learned that there was a way to take philosophy out of the classroom and into peoples day-to-day lives, and that there was a small but committed community of people doing this! After completing his undergraduate, he started his master’s degree and wrote about “philosophical counselling” (a form of philosophical practice) for his dissertation.

After completing his masters, Chris decided to take part in a course called “Introduction To Basic Counselling Skills“.

Throughout his studies Chris was committed to researching, networking and wherever possible, furthering his abilities within philosophical counselling. Chris was lucky enough to attend the ICPP (international conference for philosophical practice) where he was exposed to the global community of people practising this kind of practical philosophy. Chris attended paper presentations and workshops and took as many notes as possible. He wrote about his experience in the conference in the KOSAK (Keele-Oxford-St Andrews Kantian Research Centre) journal, which marked his first time, being published on 31st August 2023.

Around this time, Chris and his mentor, Professor Sorin Baiasu, began the long-winded process of laying down the foundations for a master’s degree at Keele university in philosophical counselling after he had been made aware that there are in fact a number of such master’s degrees in other countries but none in the UK.

It was around this time that Chris began to lay down the foundations of his own practice in philosophical counselling, the culmination of which you are reading now, Get Philosophical, where Chris privately offers his services in philosophical counselling, organising philosophical social events and managing various social media platforms where he publishes educational philosophical content.

Why Philosophical counselling?

Growing up in a working class background, Chris never thought he would have the opportunity to go to university. But after a few lucky chance meetings and fortunate circumstances, he found himself studying philosophy at university. As much as he loved philosophy, Chris often felt guilty and a little ashamed about it. Often reminded by people that “philosophy is useless“, “philosophy is only theoretical” and the bane of most philosophy students, “you will never get a job with philosophy“.

Defiant as he was to continue philosophy for the enjoyment of it, Chris couldn’t shake the feeling that the naysayers were right. Getting a job through philosophy seemed unlikely, and doing anything practical that helps people using philosophy also seemed unlikely.

Thankfully, Chris elected to take “philosophical counselling” as a third year module and from the first lecture he felt a sense of hope, perhaps philosophical counselling, or more broadly philosophical practice was a way of making philosophy into a career that would have a tangible impact on the lives of others.

Finally, a way to do what he loves AND help people at the same time!

Chris frantically took notes and listened tentatively to every word in those lectures. And later attended the ICPP conference, where he realised that he had already been training in philosophical practice through his work in the philosophy society at Keele. As president of the philosophy society, Chris has been practising a kind of philosophical practice called the “philo-cafe“.

Realising he had what it takes to work in philosophical practice and that he loved doing it, he put all his efforts into working towards becoming a full-time private philosophical counsellor.

Experience: