Dynamis of Healing: Patristic Theology and the Psyche

by Pia Sophia Chaudhari, Ashley M. Purpura (Editor), Aristotle Papanikolaou (Editor)

Overview

This book explores how traces of the energies and dynamics of Orthodox Christian theology and anthropology may be observed in the clinical work of depth psychology. Looking to theology to express its own religious truths and to psychology to see whether these truth claims show up in healing modalities, the author creatively engages both disciplines in order to highlight the possibilities for healing contained therein. Dynamis of Healing elucidates how theology and psychology are by no means fundamentally at odds with each other but rather can work together in a beautiful and powerful synergia to address both the deepest needs and deepest desires of the human person for healing and flourishing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823284641
Publisher:	Fordham University Press
Publication date:	08/06/2019
Series:	Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Thought
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Pia Sophia Chaudhari holds a doctorate in theology from the department of Psychiatry & Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Her research interests include theological anthropology, depth psychology, processes of healing, and the engagement with aesthetics and beauty. She is a founding co-chair of the Analytical Psychology and Orthodox Christianity Consultation (APOCC).

Table of Contents

Introduction | 1

1 Psyche and Creation: Initial Reflections on Orthodox Theology and Depth Psychology | 19

2 “That Which Is Not Assumed Is Not Healed” | 40

3 An Ontology of Healing? | 78

4 Eros: Healing Fire | 105

Conclusion | 149

Acknowledgments | 155

Notes | 157

Bibliography | 201

Index | 211

Editorial Reviews

The Dynamis of Healing engages in the urgent work of building bridges between patristic thought and depth psychology, which facilitate the dialogue between the two vocabularies. She seems to me having captured a critical vein of patristic thought by attempting to attribute human nature its own wealth. Chaudhari highlights the basic optimism inherent in Orthodox theology and justifies psychotherapy within that framework, not only as an empirical way for regaining psychic balance and serenity, but also as a human means of attaining liberation from distorted psychic faculties and blossoming, potentially in Christ, and thus ‘paving His way.’—Rev. Vasileios Thermos, MD, PhD, Graduate Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens, Greece

From the Publisher

The Dynamis of Healing engages in the urgent work of building bridges between patristic thought and depth psychology, which facilitate the dialogue between the two vocabularies. She seems to me having captured a critical vein of patristic thought by attempting to attribute human nature its own wealth. Chaudhari highlights the basic optimism inherent in Orthodox theology and justifies psychotherapy within that framework, not only as an empirical way for regaining psychic balance and serenity, but also as a human means of attaining liberation from distorted psychic faculties and blossoming, potentially in Christ, and thus ‘paving His way.’

Rev. Vasileios Thermos