Beyond Belief Religion in the therapy room
Aug 13, 2024
Dr. Jeremy Holmes, a British psychiatrist and author, discusses the connections between psychotherapy and spirituality. Dr. Rania Awad, an expert in Islamic law, highlights how therapy complements faith, while Canon Leanne Roberts contrasts Jungian and Freudian perspectives on spirituality. Professor Josh Cohen points out that religion can serve as a defense in therapy. The guests explore the rise of faith-based therapists and the complexity of how religious imagery impacts mental health, questioning whether therapy can replace spiritual exploration.
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Religion As A Psychic Defence
- Freud saw religion as a permanent psychic barrier that protects us from feelings of abandonment and helplessness.
- Religion positions us as infants calling on a universal figure to interpose against our deepest anxieties.
Hope Comes From Relationship
- Jeremy Holmes argues psychotherapy and religion both offer relational hope rooted in attachment.
- Both can restore a lost relational context that gives people the capacity to cope and heal.
Jung Valued Spiritual Symbolism
- Leanne Roberts contrasts Jung with Freud, saying Jung saw spirituality as intrinsic and not pathologisable.
- Jung treated religious symbolism as essential nourishment for the psyche's drive toward wholeness.
