ABSTRACT
In the social sciences, there are always questions about the validity of what we believe regarding human nature, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. This chapter explores some ways how one comes to conclusions about truth. It introduces a few ideas from philosophy to guide one's discussion and then uses that discussion as a platform to introduce a conceptual model of psychotherapy. It is important for psychotherapists to explore and understand what their underlying beliefs are about human nature, mental health, and the therapist's role in helping people 'get better'. As psychotherapists, the beliefs affect how one assess, diagnose, and then set goals for working with their clients. Based on the understanding of their clients, one might seek to work with them to change how they think, feel, and behave. At this point, one needs to properly introduce three important concepts: ontology, epistemology, and teleology. A central theme in Western epistemology has been a profound tension between the Realists and the Relativists.
