FAITH, SPIRITUALITY, PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY.
This is the first in a series of explorations reconciling these purposeful four brothers and sisters.
The core text of this reconciliation, simply because this is the one with which I am most familiar, is the Christian bible. My reference point is therefore the bible and I use this as the basis for my exploration and encourage other faiths to take my propositions within the context of their own writings.
My much more limited experience of other texts underlying other expressions of faith suggests that the subject which I shall explore is closely aligned to that text. Relating to ourselves, the wider world (represented by family and others) and a higher being (for those who have a faith based relationship) underpins a reason for life and this seems to be common ground among many faith based texts.
It is not, however, an interpretation which organised religion, ‘The Church’, disseminates.
RELATIONSHIP AS SPIRITUAL PURPOSE
I write as Psychotherapist/Counsellor who, by definition, has a deep passion for and interest in, the subject of relationship. Someone who has had cause to create a distance from the teachings of the church and to look closely at the actual words and meaning of the bible: to come to my own understanding of what I believe the words of this spiritual text are saying to me.
RELATIONSHIP AND PSYCHOTHERAPY
Psychotherapy/Counselling is based on an understanding of the dynamics and impact of different relational experiences upon a life. Our role is to help clients who come into therapy when life stops working, to help create understanding and from that to take different more helpful decisions in their lives.
At the heart of the bible it seems to me that the principle message is about how to relate to ourselves, God and others. The church seems to have hi-jacked and perverted this message into a conditional relationship with God. At it’s extreme this can include literal interpretations of contemporary translations coupled with a heresy if the authority of the church is challenged.
As a Counsellor where life is predicated upon a healthy experience of relationship and a clinical relationship that seeks to reconcile a clients experience ad to bring understanding and healing. To shine the light of positive experience into the darkness of abuse and this can include spiritual abuse.
In the next post: God as relational being.