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What matters to us shapes what we notice and how we act. During the webinar “Live Webinar: Philosophical Reflections and Insights for Psychologists and Psychotherapists” on October 9, 2025, we explored what we called moods of mattering. One of the stark differences between AI and humans is precisely here: nothing matters to AI. It has no ambition, no […]

Abstract This paper presents a case study of anxiety within the framework of hermeneutic-existential-phenomenological therapy (HEPT), grounded in Martin Heidegger’s early philosophy. Through the therapeutic journey of a young man caught in a self-perpetuating spiral of anxiety and control, the paper explores how, in Heideggerian terms, mood worlds the client and how the shift from

The deeper worry is that bureaucratically structured organisations are turning us into AI—efficient, optimised, and emotionally regulated in our very being. Efficiency is no longer just a tool; it has become the measure of how we’re expected to live and relate. From internet banking to the workplace, human complexity is being flattened into streamlined protocols.

Many professionals assume preparation means getting their content right.

For many of our greatest philosophers, it was their moods, from wonder to estrangement to anxiety, that first inspired them It’s often thought that philosophy begins and ends with abstract and rational thinking. Like science, it’s seen as a methodology of logic that allows the philosopher to be detached, disengaged, free from the irrationality and

This paper is not a commentary on Nietzsche’s philosophy, nor an abstract reflection on his thought. In contrast to therapies that seek to restore the client to a previous state of wholeness, a Nietzschean approach invites the client to create a new self from the ashes of the old. It does not aim at repair

The Lived Experience of a Novice When I began teaching, I thought I knew what I was doing. It did not take long before I realised that I did not know what I was doing. Doubt, self-doubt, and anxiety began to settle in. Luckily, I had a supervisor who put the journey into perspective by

Video: The paradox of leadership​ ​​In management, to succeed as a leader, you need skills you don’t yet have. And here’s the paradox: You can only develop those skills by leading. Dr Steven Segal discusses the framework for understanding this process. It’s called Convention — Disruption — Vision. Leaders face challenges to their mental wellbeing

An inspiring Witsie double-bill event featuring our guests of honour Dr Steven Segal and Dr Peter Friedland to celebrate Mandela Day.

Dr Steven Segal Department of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa Received April 1997; revised June 1997 In order to develop an educative response to the uncertainty and insecurity experienced in the face of difference I develop a distinction between defensive and philosophical responses to the anxiety of difference.