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Psychotherapy Volume 36/Summer 1999/Number 2

ELEMENTS OF THE SOCRATIC METHOD:


VI. PROMOTING VIRTUE IN EVERYDAY LIFE

JAMES C. OVERHOLSER
Case Western Reserve University

The Socratic method includes a ents generate universal definitions relevant to


systematic series of questions designed to problems in their lives (Overholser, 1993a,
1993b, 1994). Universal definitions help clients
help clients confront broad life issues, focus on personal issues at a broad level of con-
respect their lack of knowledge, and ceptualization (Overholser, 1994). Instead of ad-
make philosophical changes in their dressing each specific problem as it arises, ther-
approach to life. In some circumstances, apy can help clients identify general themes
the Socratic method focuses on helping connecting a diverse array of life situations. Fur-
thermore, the Socratic method relies on a general
clients explore aspects of virtue and vice attitude of modesty and skepticism that inhibits
as related to their current psychological dogmatic and directive approaches (Overholser,
problems. The Socratic method focuses 1995). Thus, the therapist gently guides the dia-
on five cardinal virtues: wisdom, logue but does not offer solutions to the client's
courage, moderation, justice, and piety. problems. Instead, the Socratic dialogue empha-
Each virtue is discussed as it pertains to sizes strategies for self-guidance and self-
improvement in clients (Overholser, 1996). Pre-
contemporary psychotherapy. By vious reports on the elements of the Socratic
evaluating virtues in general as well as method have described the processes used in ther-
specific terms, clients can make apy. The present manuscript focuses on content
important shifts in their attitudes and that can provide useful goals for therapy.
behaviors. An important aspect of the Socratic method
involves understanding virtue as it relates to the
client's life. Virtue focuses on long-term issues,
The Socratic method can be a useful tool in such as the good of one's moral character,
psychotherapy. It is compatible with cognitive whereas vice involves an emphasis on immediate,
therapy (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; Beck, tangible satisfactions (Gerson, 1992). According
Wright, Newman, & Uese, 1993), rational- to Socrates, misbehavior is due to ignorance
emotive therapy (Ellis, 1994; Ellis & Dryden, about what is in our best interests in the long run
1987), and psychodynamic therapy (Rychlak, (MacKenzie, 1981). Many deviant behaviors are
1968). The Socratic method uses systematic ques- guided by emotional reactions or appetitive drives
tioning and inductive reasoning to help cli- (Irwin, 1977). Some clients display maladaptive
behavior because they simply have not taken the
time to consider seriously the broader issues of
The author is indebted to Abe Wolf, Mark Fine, Julia DiFi- life, goals, values, and virtue. To be effective,
lippo, Liz Nasser, Jana Clarke, Robin Cautin, Eden Sil- clients need to change their daily behavior as well
vennan, Bob Smith, and Patti Watson for their valuable com- as their lasting intentions. It takes work, effort,
ments on earlier versions of this manuscript, and a special
and persistence to help clients promote their atti-
thanks to Albert Ellis for his review of the material. Also the
author wishes to thank Katie Brooks and Nick Williams for
tudes and daily behaviors toward virtue (Kekes,
helping him keep a proper perspective on life. 1988).
Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed Virtue includes noble intentions, specific ac-
to James C. Overholser, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, tions, and the beneficial results of the actions
Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, (Dent, 1984). To be considered a virtue, the be-
Cleveland, OH 44106-7123. havior must be performed deliberately and with

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James C. Overholser

knowledge of its likely consequences (Wallace, tional reactions to his injury, he initially felt
1978). Simply focusing on observed behaviors shocked and saddened. Upon further reflection,
may ignore a person's intentions (e.g., a rich per- however, he was able to appreciate the fact that
son donating to the poor in order to obtain a tax he had confronted death and survived. More im-
deduction). Alternatively, intentions to harm an- portantly, the client could see that he still had
other person can be damaging, even if never his family and friends, his personality, and his
acted upon. intelligence. Although he remained unsure about
Different situations require different virtues many aspects of his future, he felt content with
(Despland, 1985). Socrates focused his discus- himself and his abilities. Even though his life was
sions on five cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, changed in many ways, he was able to see the
moderation, justice, and piety. The virtues are positive qualities that were still present. Thera-
closely interrelated, so it is difficult to excel in peutic dialogue can help clients cultivate the skills
one virtue while lacking others. Each virtue will needed to look into the heart of a recent upsetting
be discussed in terms of its components, and clini- event and be able to find its beneficial aspects.
cal examples will be provided. This client was able to see how his injury forced
him to slow down his hectic lifestyle, appreciate
Wisdom simple qualities of life, and deeply value his
Wisdom does not refer to a specific body of friends and family.
knowledge (Godlovitch, 1981), but emphasizes a An important aspect of wisdom is an apprecia-
general reasoning ability used to make decisions tion of the limits of one's knowledge (Meacham,
based on limited or fallible information (Birren 1990). The systematic use of questions can help
& Fisher, 1990). More important than finding uncover areas of ignorance, and can help push
clever solutions to practical problems, wisdom is clients toward a greater understanding of them-
based in moral knowledge and life goals. Wisdom selves and their problems (Overholser, 1993a).
includes understanding which acts are harmful The client's answers are greatly influenced by the
to one's moral character (Prior, 1991), because types of questions that are asked, however (Arlin,
according to the Socratic method, the most im- 1990). For example, an adult female client with
portant thing is to live a life that is good and chronic depression reported frequent difficulties
noble (Beckman, 1979). Technical knowledge getting along with friends and neighbors. She was
(e.g., how to obtain financial gain or how to suc- a divorced mother of two children, and often ar-
ceed in business) does not involve virtue (Vlastos, gued with her ex-husband about custody and child
1994) because such false pleasures have little last- support. Minor conflicts would upset her for days,
ing benefit. However, their immediate gains may causing strong, pervasive feelings of sadness,
distort the appraisal of their value (Hampton, loneliness, anger, and resentment. She described
1990). Inappropriate behavior comes not from a minor mishap in which she had refused an invi-
lacking the ability to achieve goals but having the tation to socialize with her elderly neighbor so
wrong goals (Stalley, 1986). Money and power she could spend the day cleaning her basement.
are not good or bad in themselves, but wisdom In therapy, when she was asked, 'Ten years from
can guide them to be used for good or evil pur- now, what difference will this make in your life?"
poses (Vlastos, 1991). Wisdom involves the abil- the client could admit it was a minor concern.
ity to see and work toward what is of lasting value When asked to jump ahead SO years and anticipate
in life (Maxwell, 1984). what her obituary would say, she first replied
Wisdom allows a person to display excellent sarcastically, "She had a clean house." Upon re-
insight, judgment, and advice about general life flection, she stated that she hoped it would say,
matters (Smith & Bakes, 1990). The wise person "She had lots of friends and truly appreciated
displays good judgment about important but un- people." When she was asked, "When you are
certain aspects of life (Baltes & Smith, 1990). 99 years old and on your death bed, what do you
Wise individuals approach problems accepting want to say about your life?," the client said she
that they may not know how to deal with a specific wanted to see herself as "a good person." The
problem, but they remain convinced that they can therapist asked, "What does it take to be a good
deal with it. For example, an adult male who person?" The client said she wanted to say she
survived the crash of a private plane was adjusting had been a good parent, a good friend, and a
to paraplegia. When he was asked about his emo- good daughter. She began to focus on cultivating

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Promoting Virtue

these broad, positive qualities instead of letting 4 days recording the details of the events to be
herself get bogged down by minor disagreements reported to his superiors. Unfortunately, after
with others. The persistent use of questions writing extensively about the events, he lost all
helped to guide the therapeutic dialogue by en- of his notes. He was extremely upset over losing
couraging the client to shift her view of these his notes and frustrated by the wasted time. In
events. For most clients, the cognitive shift occurs therapy he was asked a series of questions regard-
gradually over a number of sessions during which ing what lasting damages he had suffered and
therapist and client confront issues related to what he had learned from his experiences. He
virtue. was able to stop his negative emotional reaction
Wisdom is often oriented toward the optimal, by saying, "This is silly. I am more upset over
long-range consequences instead of short-term losing the notes than I was over almost losing my
gains (Birren & Fisher, 1990). Wisdom requires life in a crash." Wisdom allowed him to see the
a proper perspective on life events, such as being bigger issues hidden behind the minor nuisances.
able to differentiate something that is truly terrible He had learned to step back from the trivial prob-
from a minor inconvenience. For example, a de- lem (losing his notes) and focus on the important
pressed female client tended to become very upset issue (nearly dying).
over daily problems. After several months of ther- Wisdom is the only virtue that is good in itself
apy, she was able to reduce her emotional distress (Brickhouse & Smith, 1987). All other virtues
and greatly shift her perspective. One day while require wisdom of morality to guide them (Dever-
working at home, her clothes dryer started on eux, 1977). Such things as wealth, power, and
fire. She became quite upset as she focused on the fame can be used for good or evil purposes. Even
time and money needed to repair it. She quickly courage and piety can be used destructively if
shifted her view, however, to appreciate that this separated from wisdom. Thus, all virtues involve
event was an inconvenience, not a catastrophe. wisdom (Brickhouse & Smith, 1994).
It could have become a catastrophe if it had hap-
pened when the family was asleep. She was even Courage
able to say, "It was good it happened" because Courage involves (a) a situation that poses a
she was home at the time and quickly identified risk of harm, (b) a rational desire to leave or avoid
the problem so it could be repaired without dam- a dangerous situation, (c) wisdom to determine
age to person or property. The client was able what is best in the long run, and (d) strength of
to make this shift in perspective because of her will to suppress negative emotions in order to
experiences with several similar events over the endure a difficult situation (Schmid, 1992). Thus,
previous months, such as dealing with damage to courage includes boldness, wisdom, and volition
her porch roof, and finding her children safe with (Devereux, 1977).
her ex-husband after panicking because they were Courageous behavior can be seen in situations
not returned on time. Repeated examples from that are risky, difficult, or dangerous (Rorty,
the client's daily life provide many opportunities 1986). Courage has been traditionally portrayed
for therapeutic dialogue. Gradually, clients come in behavior on the battlefield, but a soldier may
to make the perspective shift without the active be brave in battle while lacking courage in other
guidance by the therapist's questions. areas (Gericke, 1994). Courage also occurs when
Wisdom involves a mastery of reason over dealing with emotions, sickness, loss, and death
emotion so that the client's decisions are not (Santas, 1971; Schmid, 1992). The courageous
overly influenced by emotions (Birren & Fisher, person may risk suffering physical injury, finan-
1990), impulses, or appetites (Godlovitch, 1981). cial loss, or social alienation. Most people fear
For example, an adult male client was discussing poverty, injury, and death, whereas Socrates
his frequent anger and irritability over minor viewed damage to one's moral character as the
events. After several months of therapy, he began only danger to be genuinely feared (Seeskin,
to see progress in his ability to distance himself 1976). Courage is based on knowledge of long-
from minor daily hassles and evaluate his emo- range goals instead of fleeting pains and pleasures
tional response from a broader perspective. He (Duncan, 1978).
worked as a pilot, and during one session, he Courage does not imply a lack of fear but wis-
reported that he was almost in a plane crash, dom (Versenyi, 1963) in the form of knowledge
barely escaping without collision. He then spent of good and evil (Seeskin, 1976). The courageous

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James C. Overholser

person knows when it is important to risk harm with obsessive-compulsive disorder had many
(Penner, 1992). In contrast, cowardice is based problems stemming from the need to repeat cer-
on ignorance of what is truly dangerous, giving tain acts. If he walked through a doorway, drove
excessive weight to danger to the body instead his car, or placed something down on a table and
of to the soul (Wallace, 1978). Courageous acts it did not feel "just right," he would repeat the
should be oriented toward important and valuable act until it felt better. Sometimes this repeating
goals (Seeskin, 1976; Wallace, 1978). Takingun- could take hours. The client admitted he had the
necessary risks simply to prove one's courage is superstitious belief that, unless it "felt right," he
foolishness (Santas, 1971). Behavior may appear would suffer from bad luck or his health would
courageous but really be foolhardy if lacking wis- suddenly deteriorate. He was unwilling to change
dom (Irwin, 1995; MacKenzie, 1981) and a wor- his behavior for fear his superstition would come
thy goal (Schmid, 1992). true. Therapy discussions helped the client evalu-
Courage is based on the proper beliefs about ate his fears, realize there was little danger in-
what should be feared and the strength to act on volved, and develop a new perspective regarding
one's beliefs even when confronted with fear, the trivial nature of the potential harm involved
temptation, or coercion to behave differently (An- in these situations. Over the course of therapy,
nas, 1981). Courage implies boldness of action he was able to develop the courage to challenge
and a willingness to risk personal injury or loss his superstitions and slowly eliminate his re-
in order to obtain a greater good. Courage re- peating rituals. When he was asked what he
quires the self-control to pursue one's goals with- would lose if he let the obsessive-compulsive dis-
out being deterred by fears or danger (Dent, 1981; order rule his life, he gradually realized that he
Devereux, 1977). Courage requires the determi- needed to confront his fears and reduce his avoid-
nation to stand up for the rights of oneself and ance. He realized that he needed to fight off his
others even in the face of danger (Irwin, 1995). urges and tolerate discomfort in order to regain
For example, an adult female client had experi- personal control over his life. He developed an atti-
enced sexual harassment on the job. After several tude that helped him take on a challenge, which
months of negotiating for a new position to work greatly helped him overcome his compulsive ritu-
with a different supervisor, she was ready to drop als. He was able to see these anxiety-provoking
all allegations. In therapy, however, she dis- situations as trifling and insignificant. He had
cussed the different concerns in light of at- gained a better view of his life and his goals. He
tempting to protect herself versus correcting a bad developed the courage to be himself (Tillich, 1952),
situation. She realized the importance of pro- and could accept himself as an imperfect human
tecting not only herself but also protecting others being (Brouwers & Wiggum, 1993).
who would encounter this deviant supervisor. She
decided to pursue legal charges against the super- Moderation
visor despite the social pressure to "let it go." Moderation involves rational choices over
Courage is displayed when a person has the temptation and pleasure (Schmid, 1992). A client
option to avoid danger but chooses not to (Wal- can demonstrate moderation when several possi-
lace, 1978). Volition is an essential component ble options are available and the client chooses
of courage because a dangerous act is not truly the behavior that (a) allows some gratification of
courageous if it is performed due to external pres- desires, (b) is most beneficial to self and others
sure (Schmid, 1992), social conformity, or fear in the long run, (c) is perceived as beneficial for
of dishonor (Lycos, 1987). Virtuous behavior is other people in a similar situation, and (d) is the
not determined by the demands of authorities, action that a wise person would recommend
individual preferences, or social consensus (Hughen, 1982). Moderation includes self-
(Despland, 1985). Courage requires rational control, proper desires, and a priority of reason
views that help the individual transcend social, over desire.
political, religious, or superstitious customs Moderation refers to retaining rational control
(Schmid, 1992). The person must be willing to over one's pleasures and appetites (Brickhouse
confront a physical injury, social alienation, or & Smith, 1994), but people sometimes display
financial loss in order to do'what is right. excess in their emotions, attitudes, and behaviors.
It can be useful to cultivate courage in clients The self-indulgent person pursues easily obtained
during therapy. For example, an adult male client temptations (e.g., eating, drinking, and sexual

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Promoting Virtue

pleasures) to an excessive degree (Wallace, satisfaction is in the best interests of the person
1978). For most people, desires can become lim- (Crombie, 1962). For example, an adult male
itless (Kaplan, 1977). Appetites and primitive de- client reported deviant sexual habits that involved
sires become insatiable in the intemperate person exposing his genitals and sometimes masturbating
(MacKenzie, 1981), and when carried to excess, in front of young adult females. He sought help
can result in physical or mental illness (Hughen, to control these urges. In therapy, he was asked
1982). Hie excessive indulgence of bodily appe- a variety of questions to shift his view from the
tites can lead to obesity, alcoholism, and sexual immediate gratification to the subsequent conse-
deviation. When clients become accustomed to quences: What would happen if your wife knew
satisfying their appetites, the strength of their de- about these behaviors? How would you feel if
sires increases (Dent, 1975). your son did the same things? In this age of hidden
Moderation includes an awareness of one's lim- video cameras, how would you feel if someone
itations and weaknesses, making the individual taped you during these acts? What would happen
more modest, gentle, and restrained (Crombie, if the tape ended up on television? What if you
1962). Moderation can help soften emotions so wrote down a description of your adventures and
they become more gentle (Wilson, 1984). For we mailed it to your wife? The client reported
example, a chronically depressed male client, sudden strong feelings of panic, guilt, and a fear
who worked as a professional musician, found that he would lose his wife. The client found
that his high standards and self-critical style often these questions helpful in suppressing his deviant
triggered feelings of anxiety, depression, and in- urges and refocusing his energies on his relation-
security. During therapy, he was helped to see ship with his wife and son. Additional therapeutic
how he based his self-esteem on his musical per- dialogue focused more on cultivating internal
formance. When his practice or recital was flaw- constraints, so that when he felt guilty or ashamed
less, he felt good about himself. Whenever he of a deviant act, these negative emotions should
made mistakes in his music, he felt worthless as provide sufficient impetus for discontinuing the
a person. In therapy, he was asked how important behavior.
it would be for him to practice 2 hours and make Moderation involves a general ability of self-
only one mistake. When he admitted that one control and reduces the overindulgence in easy
mistake was inconsequential, he was asked about pleasures (Irwin, 1995). Even good things (e.g.,
the implications of two mistakes, then three, four, work, exercise, leisure time) may become harm-
and a dozen mistakes. He felt mistakes meant he ful if done to excess (MacKenzie, 1981). Modera-
needed more practice. The therapist asked him tion requires avoiding excessive behavior (Annas,
how he should perform if he practiced 1, 2, 3, 1981) and striving for a healthy and balanced
. . . 12 hours each day. Then, he was asked to lifestyle. For example, one female client dis-
estimate his self-esteem and quality of life if he played workaholic tendencies. She was often de-
practiced flawlessly 8-10 hours each day. By pressed because her daily life was filled with
carrying these issues out to ludicrous extremes, work, chores, and details. She had little time for
the client was able to see his excessive focus her family, friends, or relaxing leisure activities.
on perfectionism. Subsequent discussions helped She typically worked longer hours than her co-
him to see his tendency to overemphasize musical workers and held very high standards for herself.
skills had caused a relative neglect of other areas She was able to see that minor events (e.g., com-
of his life. He reevaluated his long-term priorities pleting a report 1 day late) caused major shifts in
and began working to improve his relationships her moods (e.g., depression for several days) and
with friends and family members. her attitudes (e.g., severe self-criticism). In ther-
Moderation involves mastery over one's own apy, much of the discussion focused on obtaining
pleasures and desires (Curzer, 1991). A client's a balance across different areas of her life. Com-
desires, appetites, and motivations should be con- mon events throughout her week were used as
trolled (Robinson, 1995) and guided by knowl- examples to explore the advantages and disadvan-
edge and reason (Annas, 1981). Happiness does tages of her high standards. She was helped to
not mean satisfying all desires and aspirations, see that excelling in one area (her job) implied
but taming one's desire to match one's circum- she was probably neglecting other areas of her
stances. The person's emotions and appetites life (her family and social life). Therapeutic dis-
should be indulged only to the extent that their cussions viewed balance and moderation as an

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James C. Overholser

ideal, better than an unrealistic view toward per- cludes honesty, integrity, impartial decision-
fection. making, creative problem-solving, fairness, and a
Virtuous behavior is oriented toward long- view to the good of society. Also, justice includes
range pleasures that bring happiness not just while aspects of wisdom, courage, and moderation (Ir-
one is experiencing the act (such as physical plea- win, 1995). Justice is necessary in order for peo-
sures) but pleasure and worth for their own sake ple to live together in society (Rawls, 1971). Jus-
(Trianosky, 1988). Many people can benefit from tice promotes friendship, harmony, and social
a view that emphasizes long-term satisfaction (El- cohesion (Lycos, 1987). Justice must take into
lis, 1994; Ellis & Dryden, 1987), guiding one's account the welfare of the group, the number of
behavior toward goals of lasting benefit. Greed, individuals affected by a decision, equality
gluttony, and other forms of excess should be among people, and attempts to promote the great-
avoided. The goal is not to eliminate or frustrate est good for most people (Fishkin, 1992).
one's appetites, but to redirect them towards last- Justice involves being honest with self and oth-
ing satisfactions, such as love, friendship, and ers, even when an honest response could harm the
virtue (Brickhouse & Smith, 1994). For example, client (Wallace, 1978). Justice implies impartial
one male client had difficulties with self-control. decision-making, suppressing one's personal in-
Whenever he would become upset over interper- terests from influencing the situation (Annas,
sonal problems, he would respond with severe 1981). The just person does not make special
bouts of depression, excessive eating, or sexual allowances for oneself, does not make exceptions
acting out. He lacked an ability to moderate his to general rules, does not take advantage of one's
emotions or his behavior. In therapy, the client position, and treats all people alike when in a
was asked to self-monitor the frequency of vari- position of power (Pincoffs, 1986). Justice does
ous maladaptive activities. The self-monitoring not mean blindly following the established laws,
helped him to see the pattern of excess that he or behaving according to majority rule. The just
displayed in various situations. Then, he was person is not influenced by bribes, threats, or
asked to monitor (a) the impulse to engage in the coercive pressure. Thus, justice helps people
deviant acts, (b) the time the impulse occurred, make decisions that are justifiable to all instead
and (c) the precipitating events. In session, he of enforceable by the strongest power (Reiman,
was asked to anticipate the positive and negative 1990). Behaving justly requires an individual to
consequences of his behavior, both for himself set aside personal interests and behave in a way
and others, in the near and distant future. Slowly, that helps others while sometimes bringing nega-
he learned to express his emotions in more con- tive consequences to oneself (Annas, 1981).
structive ways, and was able to reduce his reliance Justice requires wisdom and creative problem-
on less constructive outlets. The impulsive spend- solving. Clients may need to learn creative ways
ing was the easiest urge to learn to control. Then, of approaching interpersonal conflict. For exam-
strategies that helped curtail the impulsive spend- ple, a female client was frequently upset over her
ing were applied to other forms of impulse con- difficulties with her father-in-law. During family
trol. As he learned to control his primitive desires, gatherings, she often felt ignored, slighted, or
he was able to display moderation in most areas ridiculed. During therapy, she was helped to un-
of his life. His emotional problems became less derstand family interactions from her father-in-
intense, less frequent, and less disruptive, and law's perspective and was able to see the humor
he began moving toward his long-term goals of of many misunderstandings. She experimented
stability in job and relationships. The notion of with several novel ways of engaging her father-
balance was emphasized. The client, however, in-law in friendly conversation. More importan-
typically viewed his need for balance as being tly, she was able to understand family gatherings
similar to a high wire acrobat about to fall. Thus, as experienced by her father-in-law. She devel-
it became important to emphasize balance in oped a better perspective for knowing when to
terms of walking; it is easy to recover if knocked forgive, forget, or ignore an interpersonal conflict
off balance. versus the need to speak up or fight back. Thus,
justice includes wisdom for discriminating petty
Justice grievances from major life problems.
Justice refers to making reasonable decisions Forgiveness plays a central role in justice.
that are fair to all parties involved. Justice in- When clients return a wrong after they have been

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Promoting Virtue

wronged, they exhibit revenge, not justice existence after death? What does your current
(Vlastos, 1991). According to Socrates, it is never behavior imply will happen to you? When you
acceptable to deliberately injure another person are on your death bed and you look back over
or return an injury suffered (Allen, 1984; Vlastos, your life, how will you feel? Will you be ready
1991). If the client's behavior will harm another for the transition into the next life? Questions like
person, no other positive consequence can com- these can help clients reevaluate their attachment
pensate for the harm it does to the client's moral to material possessions and physical passions. For
character (Brickhouse & Smith, 1994; Vlastos, example, a depressed and pessimistic male client
1991). For example, a male client described nu- typically focused on his mistakes and failures.
merous minor physical altercations while playing Minor misunderstandings were construed as ma-
soccer with friends. He interpreted remarks and jor failures, and he tended to see his entire life
gestures made by the opposing goalie as an insult as empty, devoid of meaning, and lacking in ma-
to his manhood. He enjoyed telling stories of terial success. He typically focused on the ap-
revenge, deliberately injuring opposing players praisal, "My life is terrible." In therapy, he was
because of minor comments made on the field. He asked to list any positive qualities in his life. He
focused on the enjoyment he felt when assaulting was able to value his strained relationship with
other players, feeling strong and powerful. He his daughter, and despite problems with his super-
believed his acts were justified and legal, as long visor, he could see the benefits of his job. He
as he did not get caught by the referees. He failed also stated that "things could be worse." As an
to see the damage to himself and others, and lost assignment between sessions, the client was
sight of the friendly aspects of the game. asked to notice times he felt upset about daily
hassles, and to remind himself that "things could
Piety be worse." The next session, the client reported
Piety involves behaving according to the that this phrasing shifted his view to other prob-
wishes of God (McPherran, 1985; Weiss, 1994) lems that could potentially happen to him, making
in an attempt to benefit other people (Vlastos, him feel even more distraught. The client reported
1989,1991). Piety is based on attempts to always that the phrasing "I'm thankful for what I've got"
do one's best and therefore develop the greatest helped reduce his depression and shift his focus.
possible excellence in one's soul (Morgan, 1990). In addition, the attitude of thankfulness generated
While some people only seek spiritual guidance a renewed interest in spiritual matters that helped
for help with current problems or when seeking him tolerate ongoing stressors and helped allevi-
forgiveness for past events, piety involves a sin- ate his depression.
cere conviction to help self and others become Compassion and generosity are key features of
closer to God while striving to display holiness piety. Compassion includes a genuine concern for
through daily actions. Piety involves using God the welfare of others, their feelings, and their
as an ideal on which to model one's behavior happiness (Trianosky, 1987). The compassionate
(Kachi, 1983). Piety includes faith, generosity, person is genuinely happy for the well-being of
and compassion for others. others, perceiving positive outcomes for others
Attempting to cultivate piety in therapy can as beneficial to society. Generosity involves not
be complicated. The therapist must respect the being selfish or greedy, but giving to others based
client's religious background while helping to ex- on their need instead of your surplus. For exam-
plore and clarify the client's spiritual beliefs. Al- ple, a shy female with chronic depression tended
though many therapists avoid discussing religious to be critical of herself and others. When therapy
issues in psychotherapy, piety is based on spirit- sessions focused on using her spare time to help
ual faith, the belief that God exists and plays an others, she soon developed a more positive atti-
important role in human lives. Piety includes a tude toward people. She set aside some of her
view that death is not the end of our existence, pettiness and began to appreciate the daily strug-
but a transformation. It can be helpful to ask gles encountered by friends and neighbors.
clients a series of questions to elucidate the cli- According to Socrates, the ultimate goal of life
ent's spiritual faith. Relevant questions include is improvement of our soul (Cushman, 1978).
Do you believe in an afterlife? What do you think Thus, people should care more about their souls
your afterlife will be like? Do you think that your than their bodies (Legomsky-Abel, 1989). Socra-
behavior on earth determines the quality of your tes viewed moral goodness as analogous to health

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James C. Overholser

of the soul and evil as disease (Kekes, 1988). It tional teaching methods, but they can be learned
is mote important for a person to focus on pro- through action and discovery (Brumbaugh,
tecting and improving his or her moral character 1975). The dialogue helps promote a process of
than to become invested in material things (An- searching for information and definitions
nas, 1981). According to Socrates, the greatest (Seeskin, 1987) and encourages clients to ques-
harm is harm to a person's soul (Brickhouse & tion their attitudes and values (Annas, 1981). In
Smith, 1991) and only the client can bring harm therapy the client's views of virtues can be made
to his or her own soul. Nothing in the external explicit so they can be challenged and revised.
environment can damage one's soul (Brickhouse The dialogue helps keep the client's views of the
& Smith, 1994). Alternatively, happiness comes virtues open to change and growth (Kohak,
from what a client does to oneself, regardless of 1960). In addition, clients benefit when they can
what others may say or do to the client (Annas, view their stressors, conflicts, mistakes, and fail-
1981). ures as opportunities to develop, test, and exercise
their moral character.
Conclusions
The Socratic method uses a therapeutic dia- References
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