Orthodox Psychotherapy

[joasia]

Hello Forum,

Has anybody read the book by Bp. Hierotheos Vlahos called Orthodox Psychotherapy? I did and it's amazing. I really recommend it. He gets into detail about the state of our souls with plenty of quotes from the holy fathers and the Holy Bible. It is definitely based on Orthodox tradition. To me, it's like a workbook. What I read was not just to read for intellectual sake but to put into practice. And I came to better understand the writings of the holy fathers because they didn't explain it step by step but gave the spiritual meaning, in it's essence. Many times I felt that their words were kind of cryptic. Now when I read them, I can understand what they were referring to. Maybe it's just me, but his explanations clarified many things.

Joanna

[basilthefool]

I have read this book, and a couple of His Eminence's online materials. I found his views shocking, disturbing and ontologically shattering. In other words, his work has proven to be decisive in my re-evaluating many of my previous conclusions and considerations. While he is not by any means 'light' reading, the study of his work is, indeed, "Light" provoking. I could not recommend his writing highly enough for anyone truly interested in discovering, appreciating and devoting oneself to the true goal of human existence!

[Catherine5]

Could you explain this more, Basil?
I read one of his books which I thought was excellent. But now I've forgotten which, I must admit.
Could you give some concrete examples of his advice that struck you so strongly, for example?
Thanks, what you have written makes the book sound intriguing.
Happy Civil New Year to all of you!

[Pravoslavnik]

Catherine,

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  A superb book by his eminence Hierotheos Vlachos is [i]St. Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite[/i].  I have a fairly large Orthodox library, and this is one of the very best modern Orthodox books that I have ever read.

  The most accurate, definitive text I have read on the subject of Orthodoxy and modern psychology is [i]A Guide to Orthodox Psychotherapy[/i] by Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna.  There are far too many amateur psychologists in the modern world, but, if I am not mistaken, Archbishop Chrysostomos earned a doctorate in psychology from Princeton University prior to being ordained into the Orthodox priesthood.

[Catherine5]

Yes, Prav, you're right, Abp chrysostomos did. He is thus probably quite an authority, being versed in both standard psychology and the spiritual ways of mental illness.
I was amazed to see that you had read it, as a friend had skimmed the book and mentioned offhand about it a month earlier. That person, once a pilgrim to the Convent at Etna, was impressed with Archbishop Chrysostomos' revelation on ways the devil uses to trap people. I remember she said that one key is that demons place bad thoughts into a susceptible person's mind. Then the demons make their subject feel really bad and guilty for entertaining that bad thought. The demons then step up their campagin so much that the poor person feels so terrible that - I guess - he is much more emotionally vulnerable to further suggestions from the devil> she didn't get to that part, or didn't explain it to me.
I would like to understand all these dynamics much, much better.
Does Abp C. go into a lot of detail, or is what I wrote above the highlights. Do you remember from when you read this/
Are there a lot of other valuable insights?
Thanks for the other recommendation too - I haven't even seen that one. I remembered later that the book of Met Vlachos that I read was on something to do with Monasticism. It had a nice picture of a Greek monastery on the cover with lots of foliage, I seem to recall. Anyhow it made the monastery look very welcoming.

[Pravoslavnik]

Catherine,

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 The book by Archbishop Chrysostomos is an excellent, scholarly overview of the relationship between modern psychology and traditional Orthodoxy.  Some modern texts on the subject fail to differentiate manifestations of organic brain disorders from functional psychological and spiritual disorders.  For example, most Orthodox priests would not advise one of their flock to eschew effective medical treatment for organic diseases such as dibaetes, epilepsy, or cancer.  Yet, I have read some Orthodox texts which fail to recognize the biological nature of some brain disorders-- as if the brain were not an organ of the body, subject to disease like all other organs and tissues of the human organism!  Because of his prior scientific education at Princeton, Archbishop Chrysostomos presents a very accurate understanding of these issues, not simply reducing all that is "mental" illness (including some biologically-based brain disorders) to that which is primarily noetic in nature.  Yet, there is nothing un-Orthodox about the Archbishop's discussion of Orthodox spirituality, spiritual warfare, and hesychasm.  It is all grounded in Orthodox Patristics.

[joasia]

Basil,

Welcome. And thank you for your comment. Bp. Hierotheos' explanations are truely profound. It opened my eyes (of my nous) to truely understanding the path of repentence and the goal of theosis; the "goal of human existence". In our days, we need to have it explained in a certain way. It's sad to say that most of the writings of the saints are lost to us because we have such a limited spiritual understanding, but we think we know what they are saying. As an example, I re-read one of the volumes of the Philokalia and I understood what they were explaining, but 10 years ago, the deeper meaning of their message was lost to me, but I didn't know it. That goes to show that understanding the real meaning of their writings is based on the condition of the state of repentence.

Another excellent book is the Path to Salvation, by St. Theophane the Recluse. I also read Pseudo-Dionysios, The Complete Works (in which I recognized some very essential points), St. Symeon the Theologian, The First Created Man, St. Gregory of Nyssa, From Glory to Glory and St. Maximus the Confessor, Selected Writings. I've read many others, but I will need to re-read them again after reading Bp Hierotheos' explanation. Now they will make sense in my heart.

Joanna