Psychiatry and Psychology

[Seamus_Sully]

Concerning modern psychirarty and psychology: Do some of the schools teach that we have a spiritual or immaterial part?

THANKS!!!

If I used the wrong term (power, part, dimension), please forgive me, thanks!!!

 

[heisenburg]

Though I am not in either field, my wife is…

Generally speaking, these two Disiplines do NOT encorouge or foster the idea of an immaterial part of the Mind. It generally only focuses on diagnosable and measurable features. Since things like the spirit and the nature of the spirit are not quantifiable, they are not considered.

That being said, they understand the importance of someones religious beliefs, not as a messure, but used to help understand the patients POV.

If you are interested in what criteria they do use, there is a book call the DSM 4. It goes into the details of how to diagnose each and every recognized mental disorder. It is used as the guide in both Psychiatry and Psychology. However, it must be understood that a layperson cant really pick up the DSM and expect to understand as it is a medical book wiht all sorts of fun medical terms

As a final note, if a Psychiatrist or Psychologist focuses on the spiritual side, generally you want to stay away. More often than not it is New age spirituality, and very harmful to a patient with a true mental disorder.

Psychiatry and Psychology as a science go overboard on ensuring that their measures and disorders are messurable, quantifiable, and repeatable. This is partly because people have a misunderstanding and think these fields are very pie in the skyish, when infact, it is all done very scientificly

Hope that helps

 

[spauline]

…a Calvinist psychologist would tell a patient that had once been a devout Christian but fell in serious sin that “well, you were never saved to begin with”, a Hindu psychologist would say, “how can you believe that ‘God’ is separate from the world and all good and all powerful, when innocent people suffer? Can you not see that we are all part of God.” An atheist psychologist would say, "Well, look, I think your whole problem is itself your religion. Why not free yourself from the chains of conscience and realize that all religion is a disorder.

 

[Mirdath]

As heisenburg said, psychology does not focus on the spirit or soul. The mind/brain is still mostly an unexplored black box, and researchers focus on what can be experimentally verified. The soul doesn’t exactly lend itself to experimentation.

 

[spauline]

As heisenburg said, psychology does not focus on the spirit or soul. The mind/brain is still mostly an unexplored black box, and researchers focus on what can be experimentally verified. The soul doesn’t exactly lend itself to experimentation.

oh, but of course, how we view the human person in terms of his brain has nothing to do with his soul. Which again demonstrates, how are a Hindu, a Calvinist, a Muslim, a Relativist and an Atheist all supposed to agree on what is “sound psychology”? It’s as if you want to chop the person up: his soul has nothing to do with his mind. they are completely independent. Yeah, OK, whatever.

 

[Mirdath]

oh, but of course, how we view the human person in terms of his brain has nothing to do with his soul. Which again demonstrates, how are a Hindu, a Calvinist, a Muslim, a Relativist and an Atheist all supposed to agree on what is “sound psychology”? It’s as if you want to chop the person up: his soul has nothing to do with his mind. they are completely independent. Yeah, OK, whatever.

Can you tell me how the soul behaves, what ailments and illnesses occur in it, how it reacts to various stimuli – in an experimentally reproducible manner? Don’t think so. It’s better, then, to focus on what parts we have that can be validly scientifically treated, and leave the soul’s health to religion.

 

[spauline]

Can you tell me how the soul behaves, what ailments and illnesses occur in it, how it reacts to various stimuli – in an experimentally reproducible manner? Don’t think so. It’s better, then, to focus on what parts we have that can be validly scientifically treated, and leave the soul’s health to religion.

understanding the physical brain is by experimentation. Understanding the workings of the soul in terms of the laws that govern justification and morals can only be known in full through Divine Revelation. But so then, what you are saying, these two realms have nothing to do with one another.

In an addiction anon book, a guy tells the story of how all the psychologists were telling him, “Look, your problem is, you’re just not getting enough sex from your wife, that’s your problem.”

I’m sorry, but psychology overlaps with religion. It’s like the extremists who say, we know everytihng about the creation/evolution debate either exclusively from Scripture or exclusively from science. Uh, no, I don’t think so. We get information from both. And psych is absolutely no exception.

So then there will never be the fullness of scientific dominion enjoined in Genesis (‘have dominion’) if there will always be religious errors in humankind.

 

[buzzcut]

Concerning modern psychirarty and psychology: Do some of the schools teach that we have a spiritual or immaterial part?

Psychiatry and (experimental) psychology are scientifically-oriented in their methodology, and so tend not to speculate about things that can’t be experimentally verified.

Some psychotherapists, on the other hand, do have a spiritual orientation. Here’s a Catholic one:

chastitysf.com/index.html

 

[Mirdath]

understanding the physical brain is by experimentation. Understanding the workings of the soul in terms of the laws that govern justification and morals can only be known in full through Divine Revelation. But so then, what you are saying, these two realms have nothing to do with one another.

Not ‘nothing’, but that science cannot speculate on the existence, characteristics, or behavior of the soul. And that the soul itself, as an idea created, promoted, and taught by religion, is best left to religion. Psychology and philosophy are different disciplines and degree programs for a reason.

 

[LindaS]

And then there are those of us who are Pastoral Counselors. My training included theology and spirituality, and I am able to use them when I am with clients. Of course, it is up to the client whether or not we go into the spiritual realm. I wouldn’t force it on anyone, but many clients now seek someone who can help them with spiritual matters.

 

[Seamus_Sully]

Just for the record: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle knew we have immaterial powers or parts. They were not sons of Abraham or Jesus the Messiah.

Are there any in this field that acknowledge an immaterial part of us humans?