Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries

Orthodox Psychotherapy

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The term "Orthodox Psychotherapy" does not refer to specific cases of people suffering from psychological problems of neurosis. Rather it refers to all people. According to Orthodox Tradition, after Adam's fall man became ill; his intellect (called “nous”, the `eye of the heart') was darkened and lost communion with God. Death entered into the person's being and caused many anthropological, social, even ecological problems. In the tragedy of his fall man maintained the image of God within him but lost completely the the likeness of Him, since his communion with God was disrupted. However the incarnation of Christ and the work of the church aim at enabling the person to attain to the likeness of God, that is to reestablish communion with God. By adhering to Orthodox therapeuthic treatment as conceived by the Holy Fathers of Church man can cope succesfully with his thoughts and thus solve his problems completely and comprehensively. All this therapeutic treatment or psychotherapy is closely connected with the neptic tradition of the Church and its hesychastic life, as it is preserved in the texts of the Philokalia, in the works of the Fathers of the Church and notably in the teaching of St. Gregory Palamas. Certainly one should not disregard the fact that the neptic and hesychastic life is the same life which one sees in the life of the Prophets and the Apostles as is described precisely in the texts of Holy Scripture.

 

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File published in English on: 4-8-2005.

Last update: 3-7-2008.