It is kind of a misnomer:
The practices of Mental Health Philosophy because it is not really practices of a new method, but merely a calling out toward a more overt awareness of what we already do in therapeutic approaches to mental issues.
I address all this in my papers and my book, Mental Health Philosophy, coming out in 2026, but the push of this is some practices that is aligned with this making over what is happening.
In the process of uncovering what is actually happening in one’s mental challenge, three things occur.
Three elements Mental Health are necessary for change.
- notice
- touch
- trust
Notice
The first thing that is required is to notice what is happening. This is not a prescription, diagnosis, or a telling from someone else what is going on. Within any communicated ideas, is the person itself in the process of their own awareness.
All overcoming of mental issues becomes possible with first noticing what is happening from a personal standpoint.
It could be neuro-chemical. But it is not necessary to accept neuro-chemistry, though it could be beneficial with certain people to accept this – it depends on the person because the point of mental health is not to comply with anything.
Even if there is something happening in your brain, what you make of it is entirely separate from whatever might be proposed to be happening in there.
One always first notices what is happening when they begin to overcome their mental challenge.
Touch
Once the thing is noticed, then the person finds out its components or elements. Again, this is not a report from some science, though such reports could help.
“Touching” a thing or an aspect of what has been noticed is the getting to know what it is, whether thoughts, beliefs, body feelings, emotions, opinions, connections, social involvement or what have you.
These two aspects often form the main therapeutic focus.
Trust
Trust is when the problem is no longer problematic to the point that it is, in fact, a mental problem. One comes to trust what it is doing, which usually coincides with who and what the person is in the effort and activity of living their life in the way that they want.
Often, inability to trust one’s experience can be a therapeutic component of noticing and touching, for one might refuse or be unable to notice something that is happening because what is in fact happening is that they are avoiding what is actually happening.
An example of how the practices function
For example, with PTSD the person might be actively resisting an acceptance of the terrible event from their past. What is actually happening could be this. Or, it could be that they cannot notice that they are merely having feelings at the same time and thoughts and images. They are thus unable to ‘touch’ their trauma because what is happening is they are actively avoiding ‘noticing’ what is actually happening, and so on.
Every mental health intervention functions upon these aspects.
The Practices of Mental Health Philosophy
Coming So Soon !
You, Are mattering. Agency Matters Mental Health
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