| Abstract: | A world view expresses the presuppositions a person makes about his or her world. These basic presuppositions center on the nature of ultimate reality, of the universe, of mankind, the meaning of death, the basis of ethics, and the meaning of human history. The four perspectives of theism, deism, agnosticism, and atheism summarize views regarding these six issues. Then the influence of each of the four perspectives on certain counseling issues that are seen as the warp and woof of a counselor's value system are analyzed. These special counseling issues are the counselor-client relationship, motives for counseling, counseling goals, the method of dealing with special problems, and the choice of counseling strategies. One implication of this analysis is that counselors-in-training should study all the perspectives and also formulate for themselves a personal counseling approach that reflects thinking on both the six world issues and the special counseling issues. The second implication of the analysis is that the authentic counselor can work with others in a climate of respect for world views that differ from his or hers. The counselor does not threaten their beliefs—even when helping them to explore, clarify, and develop personal values. Jeffry Tindall reviews the philosophical approach that Smith proposes and urges that the emphasis of counselors be focused in the philosophical area of axiology. |
