August 11, 2005

As I have reflected more on my proposed book I doubt if I will call it Christotherapy III.  I also do not think that I will develop the first chapter in the book in the way I propose below.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Christotherapy III is a tentative title for a new book I am working on.  At this point I am quite open-ended about the contents of the book, not to mention its title.  The book might well be called Disputed Questions in Psychology and Spirituality.  It was Dr. Thomas Hora, M.D. who first got me interested in the idea that the spiritual can be brought into the process of psychological healing.  In the 1st chapter I am going to present views of Dr. Hora from his Existential Metapsychiatry.  I will try to present as clearly as possible a view of Dr. Hora and then I will show how it might be altered or adapted in order to be useful to someone seeking healing and growth within a Christian context.   I think this work should be of interest to any Christian who does not hold that synthesizing psychological and spiritual (religious) insights is like trying to mix oil and water.  I think that God is the creator of individuals who are subject to the laws of physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, spirituality.  Where I do take a stand is when I see that a psychological theory or method is in radical conflict with Christian spirituality and cannot be modified in such a way as to make it compatible within an orthodox Christian context.  Where this is not the case I think that a synthesis of certain psychological and spiritual theories and practices is not only possible but desirable.