Root Metaphor Theory: A Philosophical Framework for Counseling and Psychotherapy

By exploring alternative worldviews or philosophical frames of reference, counselors can look beyond their own encapsulated images of reality and examine different assumptions concerning the nature of psychological phenomena and the process of change. The present article offers an overview of the root metaphors and philosophical assumptions associated with formism, mechanism, contextualism, and organicism—the four worldviews described in Pepper's (1942) philosophical treatise and his presentation of root metaphor theory. Recent and historical trends of development in counseling theory and practice are examined within the context of Pepper's metaphilosophical system.