Format: PDF, Mobi Category: Psychology Languages: en Pages: 129 View: 1466. In 2000 the American Psychological Association, in an important attempt to bring religious issues and traditions to the attention of psychotherapists, included in its Handbook of Psychotherapy and Religious Diversity a chapter on psychotherapy with Eastern Orthodox. Orthodox Psychotherapy (The science of the Fathers) Contents Translator’s Note. Preface to the English edition. Author’s Prologue. Orthodoxy as a therapeutic science. What Christianity is. Theology as a therapeutic science. What therapy is. Method of therapy - therapeutic treatment. How then is the soul. Aug 05, 2020 Contributor By: J. Tolkien Public Library PDF ID a1085e4c3 orthodox interventions orthodox neptic psychotherapy in response to existential and transpersonal psychology pdf Favorite eBook Reading Orthodox Interventions Orthodox Neptic Psychotherapy In Response To Existential And Transpersonal Psychology.
Met Hierotheo's finest text - which I accidentally stumbled across and read with little understanding of theology. Total gibberish back then, when I came across it in a jumble-sale of a book-shop in central Athens, when looking for any, ANY book on Orthodoxy in English (my Greek being non-existent). It was the only English title languishing on the shelf. I bought it without realising that it was completely inappropriate for someone who had hardly ever ventured into any serious study of theology, and had barely even stood through a single Liturgy! Of course - like learning football or training for an ultra-marathon, theology is not something that can be achieved purely through reading books about it - you actually have to do it - and having a great coach who understands your limitations is also a tremendous boost, or you can develop all kinds of injuries... but I digress..
Anyhow - this book turns conventional notions of modern Psychotherapy somewhat on it's head and deals with curing the person through that great hospital for sick souls : the Orthodox Church.
A book that takes time to grow into before you 'get it' but certainly one that I look forward to dipping into every once in a while - it makes more and more sense. Not something for a newbie though! And in keeping with Met. Hierotheo's other writing: he doesn't mince his words!
Anyhow - this book turns conventional notions of modern Psychotherapy somewhat on it's head and deals with curing the person through that great hospital for sick souls : the Orthodox Church.
A book that takes time to grow into before you 'get it' but certainly one that I look forward to dipping into every once in a while - it makes more and more sense. Not something for a newbie though! And in keeping with Met. Hierotheo's other writing: he doesn't mince his words!
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Source: Beyond Technical Sobriety
When it comes to healing the addict, the Orthodox Church provides the most comprehensive and complete approach available to mankind. Unlike the Western approach to healing which largely places the addict in the hands of a doctor or therapist who may rely primarily on medications to bring about healing, the Church believes that all forms of healing begin with God and it is in God’s hands that we must place ourselves first and then bring other methods into the mix.
As Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Abbot of the Birth of the Theotokos Monastery in Nafpaktos, Greece, writes in his work, The Science of Spiritual Medicine: Orthodox Psychotherapy in Action: “The whole therapeutic method of the Orthodox Church is not aimed simply at making human beings morally and socially balanced, but at reestablishing their relationship with God and one another. This comes about through the healing of the soul’s wounds and the cure of the passions through the Sacraments and the Church’s ascetic practice.”
Orthodox psychotherapy focuses primarily on the need to reestablish and to be reconciled to God first, and then with our neighbor and ourselves. This is in keeping with the first commandment given to us by our Lord: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and will all thy mind” (MATTHEW 22:37). When our relationship to God is healed, our minds and hearts are likewise healed because the mind mirrors and reflects the inner condition of the heart.
Orthodox Psychotherapy Pdf Template
The Church Fathers describe the soul as the nous, or eye of the heart, in which the purpose is to ‘see’ God and to have communion with Him. This is only possible when our soul has undergone transformation and purification and we become free of the darkness of worldly influences that bombard us constantly. The Fathers also refer to two other parts of the human soul, the intelligent function and the irascible function.
Intelligent function refers to intelligence that does not come from intellectual knowledge of God, but rather it is a knowledge that comes from the heart of the mysteries of God. Irascible function refers to a willingness to abide by the Lord’s Commandments, to know right from wrong and to understand God’s will for us. All of the soul’s functions became dysfunctional after man’s fall from God. This caused us to fall out of harmony with both God and our neighbor. Treatment methods found in the Orthodox Church are designed to remove the sins and obstacles from our hearts, which keep us from experiencing the fullness of intimacy with our loving God.
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Saint Gregory Palamas referred to one of the three functions of the soul as appetitive, meaning to have a longing, hunger and thirst for God. All addictions have their roots in the dysfunction of the soul’s appetitive function. We sin by choosing to fill the void and meet this need with created things, rather than receiving from, and being satisfied with, the living water and manna (food), which can only be provided by Almighty God. We must all come to terms with this insatiable desire and our futile attempts to fill the void in our souls with any number of created things. Our persistent wrong choices only create more separation from God and others, deepen our unsatisfied hunger and thirst, and lead to self-destructive behaviors (addictions).