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Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries | Orthodox Psychotherapy |
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Orthodox Psychotherapy Road signs towards achieving in-Christ Therapy
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The term "Orthodox Psychotherapy" does not refer to specific cases of people
suffering from psychological problems or neuroses. Rather, it is something that
pertains to all people. According to Orthodox Tradition, after Adam's fall, Man
became ill; his intellect (called “dianoia”) was darkened and the mind (“nous”
or, the "eye of the heart") lost communion with God. Death entered mankind's
life thereafter, giving rise to many personal, anthropological, social, even
ecological problems. With the tragedy of his fall, Man continued to be "in the
image of God", but he had now completely forfeited the "likeness" of Him, as his
communion with God was disrupted.
"Wherefore he who professes the
science of spiritual
medicine ought first of all (...) and to see whether he
tends to health or (on the contrary) provokes to
himself disease by his own behaviour, and to look how
he can care for his manner of life during the interval. And
if he does not resist
the physician, and if the ulcer of the soul is
increased by the application of the imposed medicaments,
then let him mete out mercy to him according as he is worthy
of it."
(Canon CII of the
Quinisext Ecumenical Council)
However, the Incarnation of Christ and His bodily presence among
us, and the pursuant opus of the Church (which entails the
in-Christ guidance by spiritually illuminated Saints and Fathers
throughout Time) are both intended to assist a person to regain
the "likeness" of God, that is, to restore his communion with
God. By adhering to the Orthodox "therapeutic treatment" as
proposed by the Holy Fathers of the Church, Man can succeed to
"manage" his thoughts properly, thus solving his spiritual
issues fully and comprehensively.
This "therapeutic regimen" of psychotherapy (Greek: literally,
therapy of the soul) is closely linked to the Church’s "neptic"
tradition (sobriety) and Her hesychastic life (of "quietude") -
as preserved in the texts of the Philokalia, in the works of the
Fathers of the Church and notably in the teaching of Saint
Gregory Palamas. Most certainly, one must not overlook the fact
that the neptic and hesychastic ways of life are the same that
one observes in the lives of the Prophets and the Apostles, as
clearly described in the texts of the Holy Scriptures. ******************** |
