In 2000 the American Psychological Association, in an important attempt to bring religious issues and traditions to the attention of psychotherapists, included in its Handbook of Psychotherapy and Religious Diversity a chapter on psychotherapy with Eastern Orthodox Christians. This chapter discusses the pivotal efforts of Metropolitan Hierotheos and Archbishop Chrysostomos to bring together the ancient teachings of the Christian East with the science of modern psychology. In this work, the relationship between psychology and religion is analyzed. It presents an analysis of the teachings of the Eastern Church Fathers on the world, man, and the psychological aspects of the union of man with God. Archbishop Chrysostomos works into his presentation the extent of his own research as well as the writings of Metropolitan Hierotheos, which include attempts to evaluate the place, significance, and the effectiveness of Orthodox psychotherapy in secular psychotherapy and its application in the clinical setting.

This book vigorously engages Lacan with a spiritual tradition that has yet to be thoroughly addressed within psychoanalytic literature—the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition. The book offers a unique engagement with a faith system that highlights and extends analytic thinking. For those in formation within the Orthodox tradition, this book brings psychoanalytic insights to bear on matters of faith that may at times seem opaque or difficult to understand. Ultimately, the authors seek to elicit in the reader the reflective and contemplative posture of Orthodoxy, as well as the listening ear of analysis, while considering the human subject. This work is relevant and important for those training in psychoanalysis and Orthodox theology or ministry, as well as for those interested in the intersection between psychoanalysis and religion.

The publication of this volume by the Right Reverend Archimandrite Dr. Andrew (Vujisi ) is a benchmark in the scientific examination of the Orthodox psychotherapeutic paradigm, a pioneering step into a new area and integrated model of existential and transpersonal psychotherapy, and an important proposal for the empirical investigation of the relationship of spirituality and neuroscience. Dr. Vujisi 's work is significant in that it presents a clear understanding of human psychology from an Orthodox perspective, i.e., it presents a psychology (and potentially a psychiatry), consistent with the cosmology and soteriology of Orthodoxy. This is an indispensable dimension in the development of a global notion of research in science and religion, and is especially important as attempts at rapprochement are made on the ecclesiastical, cultural, and international levels. With increased attention by scholars to the relationship between spirituality and science, religion and physical/mental health, and holistic views of the human being that connect the body and the mind, or spirit, this volume provides a framework in the establishment of cross-cultural dimensions to the study of science and spirituality and the holistic concept of humans and their environment. Ultimately, it bridges the divide between mystical, neptic, and hesychastic teachings and the methods and goals of modern Western psychotherapy. It is the potential meeting of the transcendent and the secular, of spirituality and psychotherapy, and of neptic treatment and mind biochemistry as they impact all those in need of inner healing from spiritual, behavioral, and/or psychological disorders and pathologies."

Ultra-orthodox Jews in Jerusalem are isolated from the secular community that surrounds them not only physically but by their dress, behaviors, and beliefs. Their relationship with secular society is characterized by social, religious, and political tensions. The differences between the ultra-orthodox and secular often pose special difficulties for psychiatrists who attempt to deal with their needs. In this book, two Western-trained psychiatrists discuss their mental health work with this community over the past two decades. With humor and affection they elaborate on some of the factors that make it difficult to treat or even to diagnose the ultra-orthodox, present fascinating case studies, and relate their observations of this religious community to the management of mental health services for other fundamentalist, anti-secular groups.