ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
The renown in medicine in the Islamic Golden Age is indebted to Persian scholars including Haly Abbas (949–982 AD), Rhazes (865–925 AD), Avicenna (980–1032 AD) etc. Continue reading “Akhawayni; a Persian neuropsychiatrist of the 10th century A.D.”
Had the Ancient Greek Drama been a method of ‘mass psychotherapy‘? Quite convincingly, this appears to be the case. This post brings to your knowledge relevant supportive information and links. Continue reading “Ancient Greek Drama; Mass Psychotherapy?”
By Abbot Tryphon, a recovering psychologist
I was a psychotherapist, in private practice, and teaching in a small college, many years ago. It became increasingly difficult for me, facing, as I did, the “cut throat” behavior of fellow professors, ever trying to be on the top of the pile. I also came to believe that most of my patients were not mentally ill, but spiritually ill, and my profession seemed to be contributing to the problem. Many of my colleagues, in my opinion, were nurturing codependency in their clients, their income dependent on keeping people returning for “therapy.” Continue reading “Psychology and Orthodox Christian therapy”
An interview with Dr Jean Claude Larchet(*), University Professor who holds a doctorate in the Humanities, has studied Psychopathology, Philosophy and the Eastern Church Fathers and has also had clinical experience in psychiatric hospitals. Continue reading “Is secular “psychotherapy” compatible with the principles and the anthropology of the Orthodox Church?”
An essay by Fr. Anthony Hughes of St. Mary’s Church, Boston
The differences between the doctrine of Ancestral Sin—as understood in the church of the first two centuries and the present-day Orthodox Church—and the doctrine of Original Sin—developed by Augustine and his heirs in the Western Christian traditions—is explored. The impact of these two formulations on pastoral practice is investigated. It is suggested that the doctrine of ancestral sin naturally leads to a focus on human death and Divine compassion as the inheritance from Adam, while the doctrine of original sin shifts the center of attention to human guilt and Divine wrath. It is further posited that the approach of the ancient church points to a more therapeutic than juridical approach to pastoral care and counseling. (Abstract [1]) Continue reading “Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy”
The greatest problem of Western Christianity – and of many Orthodox also – is that they have ‘religionized’ Christianity and have turned the Church into a religion. In this way, they cultivated fundamentalisms, hatreds, divisions, a magical perception and relationship with God, also a competitive disposition of one towards another, a self-centered view of life, a utilitarian and self-benefiting perception of society, an imaginary interpretation of everything, the sentimental approach to living and generally the opinion that the others comprise –and are- a threat to our existence.
Thus, in these circumstances, the brightly-lit Christmas trees, the sentimental melodies, the moral-building analyses, all criminally conceal existential nakedness and make man a tragic being. Continue reading “The Illness of religion”
Novo Scriptorium 