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ARTICLE TITLE: All Too Human: An Application of Nietzsche's Philosophy to the Counseling Profession

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VOLUME: 54

ISSUE: 1

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YEAR: 2015

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PATRON: Givens, Joel

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 Received 11/06/13
Revised 02/20/14
Accepted 03/19/14
DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-1939.2015.00061.x

All Too Human: An Application

of Nietzsche’s Philosophy to the
Counseling Profession
Joel Givens

s s s
Friedrich Nietzsche’s genealogical method offers an investigative tool for exploring value-laden
language in the counseling profession. The genealogical method helps to identify evaluative
terms, uncover implicit assumptions, and open possibilities for creative metaphors. The au-
thor demonstrates the genealogical method and explores implications for counseling practice
and future research.
Keywords: values, counseling, Nietzsche, philosophy, language
s s s

The Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche lauded the passion, strength, and

creativity of the human as a free spirit (1878/1908). At the same time,
Nietzsche vitriolically criticized the human as a conformist to commonly
held prejudices, behaviors, belief systems, and values.
Dancing within this dynamic tension of creativity and iconoclasm,
Nietzsche’s philosophy provides tools for removing barriers to human
growth and development. Specifically, his genealogical approach offers
an analytic strategy for critically uncovering and undoing practices, ideas,
and language that inhibit human flourishing. The genealogical method also
provides opportunities for constructing innovative value terms that foster
growth and change in counseling contexts.
In On the Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche (1887/2006) examined the history
and development of the terms good and bad and good and evil. Asserting
that the term good initially described a powerful, noble, and aristocratic
person, Nietzsche contended that individuals of the noble class actively
created values that esteemed a vibrant, adventurous lifestyle. On the con-
trary, beggars, slaves, and plebeians represented the bad individuals of the
culture. Nietzsche’s genealogical analysis venerated the Roman and Greek
tradition but vilified the Judeo-Christian religion of his contemporaries.

Joel Givens, Department of Counselor Education and Supervision, University of Northern Colorado.
Joel Givens is now at Department of Counselor Education, Adams State University. Special thanks
to Elysia Clemens, Margaret Lamar, and David Johns for the feedback and recommendations on the
conceptual development of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Joel Givens, Department of Counselor Education, Adams State University, 208 Edgemont Boulevard,
Suite 3160, Alamosa, CO 81101 (e-mail: joelgivens@adams.edu).

© 2015 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved.

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 According to Nietzsche (1887/2006), the Judeo-Christian religion effected
a “transvaluation of values” (p. 9) that reversed good and bad. Following
the influence of Judaism and Christianity, powerful individuals embodied
evil, whereas lowly, meek, humble, and austere individuals exemplified the
good. Although Greek culture provided a space for heroes and beggars to
appear, saints and sinners appeared in the Judeo-Christian culture of the
19th century (Dreyfus, 1991).
Nietzsche (1969) disparaged the Judeo-Christian values that permeated
19th-century language, culture, and beliefs and the envisioned revolutionary
thinkers and visionaries, who would “inscribe new values on new tables” (p.
52). Indeed, Nietzsche affirmed the creative potential of the human spirit to
propose new ways of interpreting the world. Nietzsche (1882/2008) asserted,
“But let us not forget this: it suffices to create new names and valuations
and probabilities, in order in the long run to create new ‘things’” (p. 58).
According to Nietzsche, the genealogical method entails a process of both
suspicion and invention, both unraveling assumptions and proposing new
standards. Nietzsche also emphasized the manner in which the generation
of new words, names, or terms produces new things.
If, according to Nietzsche (1882/2008), words produce things, then objects
in the world do not possess a stable essence that exists independently of the
way that human beings talk about, interpret, and use the objects in every-
day practices. For Nietzsche, word usage produces the essence of a thing
or object, because the thing itself bears no fixed essence. Nietzsche indeed
affirmed the arbitrariness and groundlessness of human language, practices,
and customs. Nietzsche’s philosophy, therefore, resembles a postmodern
epistemology insofar as Nietzsche embraced an antiessentialist worldview
(Hansen, 2010). Consistent with an antiessentialist or postmodern episte-
mology, word use also establishes the essence of the individual person in
particular and human nature in general. Thus, Nietzsche’s philosophy and
genealogical method, as an implicit endorsement of postmodern or anties-
sentialist perspectives, initially appear incompatible with the core tenets
of humanism and humanistic counseling.
Insofar as this article applies Nietzsche’s (1887/2006) genealogical method
to promote human flourishing, growth, and creativity, the current endeavor
affirms a humanistic perspective. Moreover, I present philosophical concepts
to offer innovative approaches that may enrich the counseling relationship
and, therefore, are consistent with the aims of humanistic counseling. Ad-
ditionally, in the exposition, I introduce several philosophers and conceptual
schemes, with some thinkers embracing an essential, fixed human nature
and meaning structure and other thinkers challenging or rejecting an es-
sentialist worldview. In the spirit of Nietzsche’s texts, the style of this article
dances within this tension of skepticism and human flourishing, between an
antiessentialist epistemology and an essential human nature. For the benefit
of the client seeking counseling services, the ambiguous play of criticism
and creativity is affirmed, explored, and applied in counseling contexts.

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 Although Nietzsche’s (1887/2006) philosophical writings did not concern
counselors, the genealogical method may be applied to the counseling pro-
fession to critically examine value-laden language that counselor educators,
students, or professionals commonly use in educational or counseling set-
tings. In this article, I apply the genealogical method to identify evaluative
terms frequently used in everyday counseling language, describe the history
of the value-laden terms as they are used in speech, and explore the kinds
of identities that appear in light of the terms (Spinosa, Flores, & Dreyfus,
1997). Moreover, the genealogical approach uses a rigorous appraisal of
values to open the possibility for the creation of new evaluative terms,
different conceptual schemes, and diverse identities for counselor and cli-
ent. Oscillating within the tension between suspicion and affirmation, the
genealogical method, as I demonstrate, offers innovative approaches for
classifying and organizing client preferences. I also articulate an applica-
tion of the genealogical method in a case example of a counselor working
with a client and explore implications for future research.

Values in Counseling Literature

In both counseling and behavioral science literature, various authors

challenged the possibility of value-free research, theory, and practice.
Sperry (2009) contended that counselor educators often overlook values
in pedagogical contexts. Additionally, Sperry articulated that counseling
researchers shifted from a value-free research stance to a perspective that
embraces values. Slife (2009) asserted that the ideals of traditional science
have historically guided counseling research and that the presence of values
threatens key scientific assumptions that good research should be objective,
measurable, observable, and predictable. Slife contended that counseling
researchers often accept implicit values uncritically. Asserting that both
qualitative and quantitative studies in counselor education presuppose
values, research paradigms, and philosophical assumptions, Duffy and
Chenail (2009) examined value judgments via a specific axiology of research
designs. Axiology is defined as the study of values and value judgments
(“Axiology,” n.d.). Although Duffy and Chenail (2009), Slife (2009), and
Sperry (2009) stressed the importance of increasing awareness of values in
counseling research and instruction, these authors did not explore specific
value-laden terms that emerge in counseling instruction and practice.
Hansen (2006, 2008), Stewart-Sicking (2008), and Tjeltveit (2003) examined
the implicit values that inform counseling theory and practice. Contend-
ing that the best practices model prompts the increasing medicalization
of the counseling profession, Hansen (2006) advocated for valuing greater
diversity of counseling approaches and increased appreciation for clients
who may not fit the model. Moreover, Hansen (2008) challenged the fact/
value distinction in scientific inquiry and the absolute dismissal of values as
mere subjective phenomena. Likewise, Stewart-Sicking (2008) addressed the

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 hidden virtues, values, and assumptions of what constitutes the good life
as evidenced in counseling theory and practice. Tjeltveit (2003) discussed
the unspoken virtues and the criteria of good character in the behavioral
sciences, which necessarily entails ethical assumptions. Although Hansen
(2006, 2008), Stewart-Sicking (2008), and Tjeltveit (2003) explored implicit
values and assumptions in the mental health professions, these authors did
not examine specific examples of value-laden terminology. Thus, a gap in
the literature exists concerning the specific ways that counselors use evalu-
ative language in counseling instruction and practice.
Dorre and Kinnier (2006) addressed value-laden words and the presence
of bias in counselor language. Recommending that counselors improve
awareness of bias when working with clients, Dorre and Kinnier underscored
the need for counselors to use positive rather than negative language. They
conducted a linguistic inquiry of counselor language to separate positive
and negative value judgments. However, they selected overtly pejorative
terms and did not consider subtle value-laden words. Few would disagree
that counselors using the terms “‘irrational,’ ‘moody,’ and ‘irresponsible’”
would likely harm clients (Fryer & Cohen, 1988, as cited in Dorre & Kin-
nier, 2006, p. 71). Implicit values, on the other hand, remain invisible in
everyday speech, and evaluative judgments may be masked in allegedly
neutral and unbiased language. That is, explicitly biased terms may be
easier to identify and remove from counseling language than hidden,
implicit values in ostensibly objective terms.
The literature convincingly illustrates that counseling research, theory,
and practice is unavoidably value-laden and assumes specific perspectives
concerning good moral character and behavior; however, a lack of inquiry
has been conducted concerning hidden or implicit good, bad, better, best,
and worse values as evidenced in evaluative language used in counseling
contexts. To understand counselor values, a rigorous inquiry of the “kinds
of statements” that counselors use will illuminate value preferences (Witt-
genstein, 1958, p. 42e). In other words, the typical language that counselors
use provides a point of departure for exploring implicit values. Counselors
regularly use value-laden terms in counseling contexts, which implicitly
communicate good, bad, better, best, and worse value judgments.
According to the ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association,
2014), counselors ought to procure greater awareness of the values that
inform counseling practice. As the Code explains in the preamble, “values
are an important way of living out an ethical commitment” (American
Counseling Association, 2014, p. 3). On the other hand, values, beliefs, and
assumptions may remain outside of the counselor’s awareness (Auger,
2004). Exploring implicit assumptions, values, and evaluative judgments
concerning how one ought to behave will improve counselor awareness of
hidden beliefs (Slife, 2009). Moreover, in multicultural counseling literature,
various authors stressed the importance of achieving greater awareness of
cultural biases and social privilege (Black, Stone, Hutchinson, & Suarez,

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 2007; Hays, Chang, & Dean, 2004; Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992).
As these authors asserted, critical reflection of hidden counselor biases
contributes to enhanced awareness and greater cultural sensitivity. An ex-
amination of implicit assumptions, values, and evaluative judgments builds
on the multicultural counseling emphasis on uncovering hidden biases.
A rigorous inquiry of the implicit assumptions, values, and judgments in
evaluative language will thus enhance awareness of hidden assumptions,
improve intentionality in the use of value-laden language, augment cultural
sensitivity, and inform counseling practice.

Genealogy as Linguistic Analysis

Although an empirical study of specific value-laden terms as evidenced

in either counseling publications or practice is beyond the scope of this
article, a brief description of the applicability of the genealogical approach
as linguistic method may improve overall awareness of implicit values,
assumptions, and judgments in value-laden language. Linguistic analysis
highlights terms that may be easily overlooked or taken for granted in
counseling practice.
The French linguist Ferdinand Saussure (1916/1959) asserted that the use
of language necessarily involves a system of values. Moreover, he contended
that the significance of both words and values are determined within a
social system of differences and oppositions between the terms. He wrote,
Its value is therefore not fixed . . . one must also compare it to similar values, with
other words that stand in opposition to it. Its content is really fixed only by the con-
currence of everything that exists outside it. (p. 115)

As Saussure contended, values exist in opposition to other values. In

other words, a person that engages in the activity of speaking and writ-
ing uses values that make sense only in opposition or difference to other
values. Thus, removing values from language would render one unable
to speak, write, differentiate actions or outcomes, appraise interventions,
or justify behaviors. Using Saussure’s philosophical approach to language,
the genealogical approach may draw out opposing value-laden terms in
counseling language.

Evaluative Terms

Counselors use evaluative terms to classify different behaviors, beliefs,

attitudes, interventions, or outcomes as either preferred or unwanted.
Championing the attitude, belief, outcome, or behavior that clients ought
to demonstrate, counselors use evaluative terms to oppose the good
from the bad. Evaluative terms include both dichotomous and scaled
or continuous classifications. In other words, evaluative terms encom-
pass both categories at the extreme ends of the spectrum and various

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 intervals in between. In counseling and counselor education contexts,
classifications include positive, negative, effective, ineffective, healthy,
and unhealthy. These evaluative terms also entail discrete intervals of
behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, interventions, and outcomes as more or
less healthy, more or less effective, and so on. Although no empirical
evidence supports the use of these evaluative terms, these classifica-
tions are used to demonstrate the genealogical method in counseling
and counselor education contexts.
Value-laden terminology implies an ideal, a best-case scenario, and a
good outcome at one end of a continuum that counselors, counselor educa-
tors, and students tacitly agree upon. At the other end of the continuum,
a contrasting scenario, a less favorable outcome, and a bad value opposes
the implied ideal. Additionally, qualifiers designating gray areas or posi-
tions between the two ends of the continuum (e.g., slightly effective or
moderately healthy) remain fixed in a matrix between two dichotomous
values. Thus, counselors and counselor educators who use qualifiers such
as more, less, slightly, or moderately to diminish the strength of an evalu-
ative term adopt the structure encompassing the good, the bad, and all
that lies therein.
Moreover, according to Saussure (1916/1959), omitting values from
the language would render one unable to speak and write. For counselor
educators, students, and counselors, distinctions between good and bad
practices, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, or outcomes are necessary to speak,
write, and practice counseling. Replacing the terms good and bad with the
terms positive and negative trades one dichotomous structure for another.
Qualifying terms, including more, less, slightly, and moderately, likewise un-
derscore the oppositional value structure. Exchanging or qualifying value
terms does not rid language of values but masks the hidden good/bad
dichotomies implicit in the language. In addition to qualifying words, the
terms positive, negative, effective, ineffective, healthy, and unhealthy present
the false appearance that one has eliminated values from language. Despite
false appearances, value judgments remain hidden in the use of ostensibly
neutral or objective terminology.
To avoid overt value judgments, counselors use evaluative terms to jus-
tify good, bad, better, worse, or best practices in the counseling profession.
Additionally, the evaluative terms entail implicit assumptions, values, and
judgments concerning the way a counselor ought to provide counseling or
the way a client ought to think, feel, or behave. The first step of the genea-
logical method discloses hidden values by means of a linguistic analysis of
evaluative language in counselor discourse. At the same time, the rationale
explaining the exchange of overt evaluative terms with ostensibly objective
terms remains uncovered. The structural or linguistic analysis highlights
various evaluative terms but does not describe how the terms were deployed
in counseling practice. Therefore, the next stage of the genealogical method
involves historical research.

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 Genealogy as Historical Inquiry

According to Michel Foucault (1971/1984), the genealogical method en-

tails an examination of terms as they descend into common usage, not the
origins of the true meanings of the terms. Thus, the genealogical method
provides a historical account of the ways that value-laden terms dropped
into everyday speech but does not examine the essential truths about
human nature. Beginning with the assumption that human practices and
speech evolve arbitrarily, the genealogical approach regards the narrative
of scientific progress suspiciously. Considering the evaluative terms and
qualifiers described previously, the genealogical method offers a histori-
cal inquiry of the manner in which the terms healthy, unhealthy, positive,
negative, effective, and ineffective dropped into common usage in the
counseling profession.
As historical inquiry, the genealogical approach begins with an explora-
tion of the emergence of these terms in counseling practice. As Foucault
(1971/1984) asserted, words and terms often appear in the common usage
of a discipline because of chance or subterfuge. He argued, “The world of
speech and desires has known invasions, struggles, plundering, disguises,
ploys” (p. 76). Contesting the optimistic progress of reason and the objectiv-
ity of the scientific method, Foucault contended that scholars used reason
and science in an ongoing competitive struggle. In the context of a struggle,
words and terms are used as weapons in academic or disciplinary competi-
tion. Evaluative words and terms came into the counseling profession in
the guise of scientific truth and objectivity, but now serve as weapons in
the competitive struggle between counseling and other disciplines.

Healthy and Unhealthy

As a discipline, counseling has struggled to establish an identity in rela-

tionship to other disciplines that use the medical model (McLaughlin &
Boettcher, 2009). Hansen (2006) contended that the profession of counseling
is becoming increasingly medicalized, because the profession appears to
unanimously endorse evidenced-based approaches, emphasize diagnosis
and treatment planning, and embrace the best practices model. In light of
the ongoing struggle for counseling identity, the evaluative terms healthy
and unhealthy dropped into counselor language to emulate the prestige
of the medical model. As exemplars of good and bad attitudes, beliefs, or
behaviors, the terms healthy and unhealthy crept into counseling from a
discipline that diagnoses health-related symptoms, recommends systematic
treatment, and promotes the overall functioning of the body. However,
counselors are not trained to diagnose physiological ailments within the
medical model (Hanna & Bemak, 1997). Thus, counselor educators, students,
and practitioners borrowed the terms healthy and unhealthy in an effort
to resemble practitioners in the medical field.

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 At the same time, a physician’s assessment of an unhealthy heart and
a counselor’s assessment of an unhealthy belief represent drastically dif-
ferent conclusions. Although a doctor’s diagnosis that a patient has a sick
heart does not assume a value judgment, a counselor’s assessment that a
client has a sick belief necessarily assumes a moral evaluation of a good
or bad belief. Yet, if a counselor describes a client’s belief as unhealthy, the
force of the moral judgment is disguised within the power, authority, and
objectivity of the medical model. Indeed, the use of the term unhealthy
in describing a belief presents the appearance of a medical diagnosis of a
symptom. The language reserved for bodily functions, therefore, dropped
into the practice of counseling to describe feelings, thoughts, beliefs, at-
titudes, and behaviors.

Positive, Negative, and Qualifiers in the Middle

The terms positive and negative drifted into the counseling profession
from the language of positivism. More accurately, the counseling profes-
sion appropriated these terms from psychology, a discipline that initially
adopted logical positivist assumptions (Kitchener, 2004). Positivist philoso-
phy esteems objectivity, the scientific method, and empirically verifiable
data (Hibberd, 2010). Analogous to the objectivist perspective implicit in
medical discourse, positivist philosophy attempts to rid empirical data of
value-laden terms and subjective biases (Slife, 2009). Thus, positivist philo-
sophical perspectives, which are considered implicit in seemingly objective
language, provide a rationale for the emergence of the terms positive and
negative supplanting overt value judgments.
Resembling the language of computers and binary code, positive and
negative dispense with the moral and ethical baggage that accompanies the
terms good, bad, or even evil. With the language of positivist philosophy,
a counselor may describe a behavior as positive or negative in the guise
of remaining value-neutral. In effect, positivism entails a divorce between
value-laden terms and the moral and ethical implications that traditionally
accompanied those terms. A counselor using the term positive or negative
to describe an attitude, belief, or behavior assumes the authority of objective
science. Similar to the structure of medical language, the terms positive
and negative replace the good/bad dichotomy and thereby mask the moral
judgments that remain implicit in counselor language.
Although apparently representing the middle ground between extreme
points of view, the terms more, less, slightly, and moderately represent dis-
tinct intervals that may be plotted along a normal curve between the two
tails or two ends of a continuum. As such, qualifying terms underscore the
trend toward operationalizing phenomena as discrete, measurable constructs.
Thus, when paired with evaluative terms, qualifiers emulate the positivist
paradigm and the aims of objective science. Considered historically, theo-
rists developing counselor training and practice, including Carkhuff (1972),

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 embraced the merits of operationalizing skills, goals, and behaviors in the
counseling room for the purposes of developing systematic and consistent
counselor training programs. Therefore, the roots of counseling and counselor
training demonstrate this shift toward scaling phenomena in measurable
terms. Correspondingly, when qualified, evaluative terms occupy a place
on the normal curve within the larger paradigm of positivism.

Effective and Ineffective

The history of the terms effective and ineffective presents a complicated

etymological picture. The word effective is related to the words efficiency
and efficacy, with all three words suggesting the overall success of a thing,
person, or system (“Effective,” n.d.). In counseling contexts, the word ef-
fective is usually associated with a description of a client’s coping skills.
As such, the phrase “effective coping skills” demonstrates technical jargon
reproduced in client progress notes. Technical jargon creates the illusion
of precision in language through the use of vague terms (Billig, 2008).
Likewise, technical jargon produces a disparity between the expert and the
novice. Counselors use technical jargon, including effective and ineffective,
to improve credibility (Atkinson & Carskaddon, 1975). As evaluative terms,
effective and ineffective began in the counseling profession as technical
jargon that offered increased credibility, enhanced authority, and greater
power for counselors in mental health contexts.
Counselors use the terms effective and ineffective with the assumption
that value-laden language has been left outside of the counseling room.
Related to objectivism and positivism, technical jargon apparently describes
only what may be useful or helpful for an individual without using values.
However, any description of effective attitudes or behaviors involves an
implied standard or criterion, or the way someone ought to feel, think, or
behave. Moreover, assumptions concerning what constitutes effective or
ineffective behaviors entail broader social norms (Auger, 2004).

Genealogy as Ontological Investigation

In Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals (1887/2006), a specific identity or

kind of human being appeared in the context of the evaluative judgments
that differentiated good and bad. In the Greek civilization, individuals
showed up as either heroes or beggars. Likewise, saints and sinners showed
up as good or evil within the Judeo-Christian culture in 19th-century Eu-
rope (Dreyfus, 1991). The genealogical method discloses different kinds of
identities or beings that show up because of the evaluative language of the
counseling profession. Additionally, unique kinds of counselors and clients
appear in light of the evaluative terms positive, negative, healthy, unhealthy,
effective, and ineffective. Specific kinds of being correspond to the ideal
end of the value continuum, whereas other kinds of being correspond to

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 the opposing value. Thus, an exploration of unique counselor and client
identities requires a thorough description of ontology, or the study of being.
In the present article, the term ontology parallels Heidegger’s (1927/1996)
analysis of Dasein, or being-in-the-world, in his work Being and Time.
Heidegger explored the human kind of being (i.e., existence). According
to Heidegger, the person is typically engaged in practical activities, such
as writing a manuscript, teaching a class, or conducting a counseling ses-
sion. Moreover, the individual’s identity is shaped by the task at hand:
The writing person is a writer; the teaching person is an educator; and
the counseling person is a counselor. In Heidegger’s philosophy, the pos-
sibility of participating in multiple activities entails multiple identities or
ways of being. One specific person may be a writer in the morning, an
educator in the afternoon, and a counselor in the evening. Heidegger thus
offers a model of different identities produced within multiple contexts.
In this regard, Heidegger’s challenge to the traditional notion of a fixed,
permanent identity cannot be overstated.
In each activity, individuals take up not only different identities and
purposes, but also different equipment (Spinosa et al., 1997). A person con-
ducting counseling may use different skills, techniques, interventions, and
language to accomplish the purpose of counseling. Likewise, the same person
may be either a humanistic counselor when using humanistic techniques
or a cognitive behavior counselor when using cognitive behavior therapy
interventions. In either case, the identity of both the person conducting
counseling and the person seeking counseling depends on the context of
the unique activity, purpose, and equipment.
Counselors use evaluative language as equipment to accomplish pur-
poses or goals in counseling sessions. Furthermore, the counselor’s use of
the terms healthy, unhealthy, positive, negative, effective, and ineffective
produces specific counselor and client identities. Whereas both the linguistic
and historical genealogical stages involve analyses of discrete words or
phrases, the effects of implicit evaluative terms, when used as equipment
in counseling contexts, cumulatively produce unique counselor and client
identities. The terms healthy, unhealthy, effective, ineffective, positive, and
negative are likely used interchangeably, thereby producing global, pervasive
identities for counselors and clients in counseling sessions. Although the
terms may have emerged from different fields, disciplines, or worldviews,
the evaluative terms infer the prestige of medicine, the objectivity of sci-
ence and positivism, and the authority of technical jargon. Collectively, the
terms reinforce the inequality of the counselor and the client, the power
and authority of the counselor as technician, the docility of the client as
subordinate, and the illusion of objectivity.
Additionally, evaluative terms integrate the organic language of medicine
and the objective language of science. The terms healthy and unhealthy use
the medical paradigm of illness. Hence, the client presents in the context
of the disease model. A counselor diagnosing unhealthy attitudes, beliefs,

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 and behaviors implies pathologies or diseases that threaten the wellness
of the sick client. Likewise, the terms positive, negative, effective, and inef-
fective entail the objective language of science. A counselor using jargon
and objective language presents as the technical expert, whereas the client
necessitates repair, reprogramming, rewiring, or rebooting. Thus, interven-
tions may be used as techniques to repair or fix faulty beliefs, attitudes, and
behaviors. Given the evaluative terms explored in the present analysis, the
counselor becomes the technical expert in the counseling room.
Considering the organic language of medicine and the objective language
of science, the good client ultimately appears as an android insofar as he or
she presents as a being capable of reconfiguring faulty beliefs, attitudes, or
behaviors. In fact, the etymological root of the word android comes from the
Greek word androeidis, which means “in the likeness of a man” (“Android,”
n.d.). According to this definition, the word android designates something
that bears the likeness of a human being. As the preferred identity in coun-
seling contexts, the android is capable of both healing and reprogramming.
The android has both the potential to grow, thrive, and heal and to repair
faulty thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors.
Conversely, the being of the client as android presupposes an essential
human identity or true self with the capacity for growth and change. Thus,
the figure of the android plays within the tension between essentialist and
antiessentialist assumptions, as outlined at the beginning of the article. On
the one hand, the client as android assumes a fixed human nature. On the
other hand, as only one kind of identity produced in and through language
practices, the android represents an arbitrary and groundless way of being
in the context of medical, positivistic, and objectivist discourses. As outlined
below, the development of different value paradigms opens the possibility
for new identities to emerge.
In opposition to the reprogrammable android, the bad client appears
as a psychopath in counseling contexts. The client as psychopath is often
excluded from the therapeutic process, because they are often assumed
to be incapable of reform and resistant to treatment (Felthous, 2011). The
psychopathic client may be considered unable to change and, therefore,
neither repairable nor capable of achieving health. Thus, this way of being
embodies the derided identity of the medical, objectivistic, and positivist
paradigms. The psychopath represents the disdained kind of being in
contrast to the evil sinner in the late 19th century or the bad beggar in
ancient Greece.
Using these evaluative terms, the counselor remains the technical expert.
Whether the client presents as android or psychopath, fixable or beyond
repair, the counselor using medical and objectivist evaluative language
or equipment maintains a position of power and authority in counsel-
ing contexts. The counselor also maintains a position of distance from
the fixable client and thus rises above the contemporary good and bad
distinction. Although the counselor seemingly eludes value judgments

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 in a position of neutral objectivity, he or she communicates values in the
use of evaluative terms.

Genealogy as Creative Affirmation

Considering Saussure’s (1916/1959) argument that one cannot communi-

cate without values, the client and counselor require a medium by which
preferences can be communicated. Indeed, preferences inform the content
of counseling sessions, structure the interpersonal process between the
counselor and the client, and shape the development of treatment goals.
The genealogical method not only involves a critical gesture but also opens
the possibility for the formation of different organizing terms. Therefore,
the task of the counselor using the genealogical method involves generat-
ing new terms to classify and conceptualize preferences.
As an advanced empathy technique, the use of metaphor has been en-
dorsed to foster client self-awareness (Neukrug, Bayne, Dean-Nganga, &
Pusateri, 2013). In the context of the genealogical method, the counselor’s
production of metaphors provides different conceptual tools that assist
in organizing preferences. Replacing measurable and operational terms,
metaphors provide rich, complex images that structure the good, the bad,
and the indeterminate outcomes that exist within extremes. Counselors may
indeed generate metaphors associated with experiences, memories, literary
themes, or original motifs. For example, a counselor might conceptualize a
preferential structure in themes of darkness and light, with various shades
in the middle. A counselor could also propose flying upward to represent a
preferable outcome and falling downward to signify a less desirable outcome,
with various degrees of floating signifying intermediate terms. Thus, by
applying the genealogical method, the counselor transcends value-laden
jargon and forms new evaluative schemes.
Insofar as the terms healthy and unhealthy dropped into counselor lan-
guage from the medical worldview, the evaluative words modify thoughts,
feelings, and attitudes by analogy or metaphor. In this regard, counselor
language adopts meanings from other ways of talking and thinking in
neighboring frameworks or discourses (Derrida, 1967/1978). As such, the
counselor, generating new metaphors in sessions with clients, likewise
appropriates different schemes, theories, and perspectives couched within
distinct frameworks or worlds. Consistent with the genealogical approach,
the production of new metaphors allows the possibility for different con-
ceptual worlds to descend into counselor speech. For example, the flying
versus falling metaphor may invoke the world of birds soaring through the
sky or the world of air travel, to name only a few of the almost limitless
worlds or conceptual systems. By incorporating imaginative metaphors
to structure and classify preferences, the counselor draws in worlds that
invite new possibilities for growth and change. Developing and offering
new metaphors, the counselor plays with various symbols and images.

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 Concordantly, the creation of new metaphors produces new things and
identities (Nietzsche, 1882/2008). The counselor’s development of new
metaphors indeed invokes both limitless worlds and identities. With
identities that may soar through the sky or plummet to the ground, clients
become eagles, pilots, superheroes, or meteorites. Participating within the
imaginative worlds that are created, counselors may also become eagles or
passengers on the airplane. For example, a counselor taking on the identity
of a passenger might say to the client, “I am now looking out the window
of the airplane. I am 30,000 feet above the ground, but I cannot tell if I
am climbing or falling. Describe if the airplane is ascending, descending,
or maintaining a steady course.” This metaphor structures the client’s
preferences as climbing or falling, invokes the world of air travel, and
thus produces the correlative identities of pilot and passenger. Applying
the genealogical method in a gesture of affirmation, the counselor indeed
creates new selves.
The process of using new metaphors to generate different values com-
plements narrative therapy approaches (White & Epston, 1990). Indeed,
narrative therapy also entails a critical appraisal of medical and scientific
discourses and an exploration of the kinds of identities produced in dis-
courses. Similar to narrative therapy, the genealogical method embraces
the philosophy of Foucault, postmodern philosophy, and antiessentialist
epistemology. Undeniably, as a counseling tool, the genealogical method
may be applied in conjunction with narrative therapy approaches. At the
same time, key differences differentiate the genealogical approach from
the corpus of narrative therapies. Specifically, the genealogical method
explicitly concerns values or preferences and replaces ostensibly objective
evaluative terms with metaphors that assist in the development of differ-
ent preferential terms. Although diverse interpretations and applications
certainly exist, narrative therapy emphasizes client problems and solutions
in the context of social narratives or discourses.

Implications for Counseling Practice

and Research

In professional counseling practice, the genealogical method permits the

counselor to uncover implicit values, oppose dominant paradigms, and
generate new value terms through the creation of metaphors. The following
section offers a case example for the purpose of demonstrating the applica-
tion of the genealogical method in the context of individual counseling.
Because the genealogical method involves a linguistic investigation, the
case example will only include the client’s speech and will not address
demographics or specific precipitating factors. I will propose a client who
dutifully completes an intake assessment as she sits in the waiting area of
a counseling practice. The counselor greets the new client with a smile and
accepts the completed intake assessment. Walking to the counseling office,

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 the counselor reads the listed presenting concerns. The counselor notes the
first listed concern, which reads, “I feel worthless all of the time. I would
like to develop different ways of thinking about myself.” The counselor
silently considers the words inscribed on the page and welcomes the client
into the counseling office.
Working with this client, the counselor, using the genealogical method,
will intentionally observe the language used, the values implied, the as-
sumptions conveyed, and the identities produced. Each step of the genea-
logical method may be applied as the counselor works with the client in
the session or reviews notes afterward. Indeed, the rigorous analytical steps
of the genealogical method may require careful attention outside the ses-
sion. In providing counseling for this client, the counselor attends to both
the client’s preference and the terms used to communicate the preference.
This particular client explains that she would like to develop new ways to
think about herself and, presumably, to not feel worthless. In the absence
of overt, value-laden words, the counselor, in this case, lacks adequate
content to analyze implicit value judgments. However, the terms healthy,
unhealthy, effective, ineffective, positive, and negative circulate in the
currency of counseling discourse and may emerge in professional staffing
meetings with a treatment team, in supervision, in counseling textbooks,
or in the counselor’s own private monologue as he or she considers the
client’s presenting concern. For the counselor, the genealogical method
requires careful attention to these evaluative terms as they show up in the
process of counseling, case formulation, supervision, or professional staffing.
Continuing this case example, a colleague present at the professional
staffing meeting offers the words optimal, adaptive, and functional when
describing the client’s clinical formulation. The counselor observes the use
of the terms and then considers the historical background of the language.
Beyond the positivistic, objectivist, and medical discourses presented in
this article, the counselor applying genealogy may also consider other dis-
courses that correspond with terms such as optimal, adaptive, and functional.
Thus, the counselor may engage in research concerning the histories of
value-laden words. In addition to examining the historical background, the
counselor contemplates the unique identities produced in and through the
words optimal, adaptive, and functional. The counselor explores the kind
of person that corresponds to optimal, less optimal, adaptive, maladaptive,
functional, and dysfunctional criteria.
Using the affirmative dimension of the genealogical method, the coun-
selor then sets aside these terms and develops new metaphors that assist
in the conceptualization of the client’s presenting concerns. In this case,
the counselor proposes that the client remains “lost in a dense forest” and
is searching for “the path into the clearing.” The counselor suggests the
metaphor to assist the client with classifying preferences in imaginative
terms. Moreover, the historical background of the metaphor broadens to
include poems, literature, fairy tales, or movies. Within various metaphorical

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 worlds, the client’s way of being in the metaphorical story may be at once
that of a lost child, a hero, or even a frightened animal. Working within
this metaphor, the counselor becomes a trail guide who assists the client
from the forest to the open path. Rather than scaling the preference on
the bell-shaped curve, the metaphor opens up new possibilities of acting,
thinking, dreaming, and being.
As an advocate of the client, the counselor may further introduce the
metaphor in the staffing meeting to replace his or her colleagues’ language
centering on optimal, adaptive, or functional behaviors. Therefore, the ge-
nealogical method provides the counselor with tools to critique evaluative
jargon and to generate new conceptual schemes to classify preferences.
Ultimately an exercise in iconoclasm, the genealogical method affirms the
complex ways of being in the world against the constraining, reductionist,
and normalizing discourses that circulate in counseling speech.
The genealogical method may likewise prompt future empirical research
of implicit counseling values. Future research may be useful in collecting
empirical data of value-laden language, historical meanings of terms, and
counselor or client identities. From a developmental perspective, inexperi-
enced counselors may be more likely to use ostensibly objective technical
jargon to alleviate anxiety. On the other hand, experienced counselors may
use specific value-laden terms common in community mental health agen-
cies. Furthermore, some counselors may experience freedom to generate
metaphors, whereas other counselors may feel constrained within posi-
tivistic, medical, or scientific discourses. Future empirical research might
illuminate differences in the awareness of evaluative terms, the frequency
of using value-laden jargon, and the experiences of creating metaphors to
organize client preferences.

Conclusion

Applied to value-laden language in counseling practice, Nietzsche’s

(1887/2006) genealogical method provides a tool for both the critical
appraisal and creative production of new evaluative terms in counselor
discourse. The genealogical approach highlights value-laden language in
everyday counseling language; explores the historical emergence of evalu-
ative terms; investigates the kinds of human beings produced; and opens
the possibility for new evaluative metaphors, unique worlds, and diverse
identities. Considering this preliminary exploration, I invite counselors to
imaginatively play with new metaphors that organize client preferences in
innovative structures. With a critical eye toward evaluative jargon, counselors
may use the genealogical method to clear the ground for new opportunities
for clients to engage in the counseling process, achieve preferred goals, and
exist as new identities. Articulating the creation of new meanings, Derrida
(1967/1978) described Nietzsche’s affirmative style as “the joyous affirma-
tion of the play of the world and the innocence of becoming, the affirma-

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 tion of a world of signs without fault, without truth, and without origin
which is offered to an active interpretation” (p. 292). Counselors, free to
relinquish the burdensome truth of the medical, scientific, and objectivist
discourses, are therefore permitted to joyously embrace the playfulness of
human becoming in the creation of new metaphors, worlds, and identities
in work with clients.

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