"Purpose and Meaning of Life".
This article has not yet been completed, but everything already stated by the author allows us to draw the attention of readers to it without error, as an outstanding phenomenon in journalism.
Strictly speaking, for people who are well acquainted with the Fathers of the Church, or at least carefully read the psychological treatises of the late Bishop Theophan of Tambov, Mr. Tareev’s article will not say anything fundamentally new. But that would be both impossible and unnecessary.
Bishop Theophan himself only formulated, in relation to the concepts of modern man, what has long, since the apostolic and paternal times, been in the Christian view of the psychological life of man. The same can be said about Mr. Tareev's article. He formulates in his own way, according to his own system and method, what the ancient Christian teaching says, formulates on one's own, with a rare understanding of the meaning of the teaching, with rare clarity, and this, as it were, opens up new horizons for the reader.
In all such works on the development of Christian psychology, the eternal phenomenon is repeated, which Khomyakov excellently described in his poem:
At midnight, near the stream,
You look up at the sky
Are committed far
Miracles in the mountain world...
It seems all the same familiar, long-known sky, but the more you peer into it, the wider the horizons: the stars open behind the stars, and so on ad infinitum. Yes sir:
In the hour of midnight silence,
Drive away the deceptions of dreams,
You look with your soul into the writings,
Galilean fishermen.
And in the volume of a close book
Will unfold before you
Endless vault of heaven
With radiant beauty...
AT this In the sky, the “stars of thought” in the same way multiply the more, the more you peer into them, and the very body of the heavenly teaching is expanding and expanding to infinity ...
It is Mr. Tareev's article that forces the reader to look more closely into these endless spaces, and it can help disperse many "dream tricks" to every sincerely thirsty life.
Christian psychology: in many this word is capable of arousing bewilderment. What's the matter? they will say. And what is Christian psychology? Everything that can be true in it - is it not included in ordinary "scientific" psychology, and what cannot be included - is it not, obviously, a mere fantasy?
This is how educated people now argue, repeating the legendary saying of Omar at the burning of the Library of Alexandria: "If these books agree with the Koran, then they are superfluous, and if they contradict it, then they are false."
For very many tertium non datur.
There are, however tertium, which contains summum truth.
Psychology, the so-called "scientific", seeks to find the laws human spiritual life. But along with the human spiritual life in man may be and for the completeness of its existence there must be, Divine spiritual life. The laws and conditions of this Divine spiritual life bring to the experimental "scientific" psychology the revelations of the "Fishermen of Galilee" and the research of the Fathers, who pondered over the revelations and were rich in experience of spiritual life.
The formulation of this Christian psychology is made, with understanding and clarity, by Mr. Tareev's article.
I will not describe its content. This would either be overkill or not enough. But when you imagine the many current "teachers" of life in journalism, you see with certainty two circumstances:
First, it is obvious that even now, fortunately and honorably for human nature, man is not satisfied with "scientific" psychology. Whatever "hypnotisms", "suggestions", etc., she introduces into her "naturalistic" doctrine of life, a person feels that this Not all that it has something other, without which he cannot do without, for this other is a reality no less than nerves, electric currents, etc.
But, feeling this, today's people are not able to get rid of the nightmare of dreams that have enveloped them in some kind of "delusion" of evil power.
The nightmare of false dreams weighs equally on the thoughts and writings of apparently the most diverse people. Look at Count L. Tolstoy, or Messrs. Rozanov, Merezhkovsky, Engelhardt, not to mention the many smaller ones, even less capable of protecting their souls from delusion - this nightmare weighs on everyone, and distorts every glimpse of the truth in everyone, turning it into a lie, mostly painful for the “reasoner” himself. ".
Yet this is based on complete ignorance. Christian psychology, that psychology which points out to us, along with spiritual life (worldly, natural, science to be investigated), - life spiritual, that is, the life of God in man.
Forgetting this basic idea of Christianity, which little by little has become completely unknown to many educated people, has as its consequence a lot of not only false opinions, but also false feelings. Having lost a clear idea or even any idea about the laws of this part of our psychology, people can no longer maintain in themselves the sparks of spiritual life, and their mental life from generation to generation is increasingly deprived of its best normal foundations. The result is a variety of types of psychopathy, incompleteness, ugliness of feeling and thinking.
To combat these phenomena of mental illness, it is extremely important to restore in people - at least for the first time - knowledge Christian psychology. It is remarkable that such a subtle and sensitive thinker as Bishop Theophan, precisely in our mentally ill time, devoted his best efforts to works on Christian psychology, as if realizing that now this is the most important, the most important thing.
G. Tareev, of course, is not Bishop Feofan, but in his own way he does the same thing in his article. The only pity is that our society reads few spiritual magazines. But this is no longer the fault of Mr. Tareev. For my part, I consider it my duty to draw the attention of readers to this really excellent work.
INSTITUTE OF CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY(IHP) is the first educational, scientific and educational institution in Russia that develops the Christian trend in Russian psychology.
Founder of the Institute Charitable Foundation "Russian Orthodoxy".
The rector of the IHP is a priest and psychologist - Andrey Vadimovich Lorgus.
The need for Christian psychology. The need for psychological knowledge for modern Christian ministry is obvious: caring for the sick, raising children, helping families and many other issues of ministry need psychological knowledge. However, psychology in general and the Russian school of psychology in particular are very far from Christian values.
Christianity has invaluable spiritual and anthropological riches, which are already embodied in psychology. Christian psychology is a natural stage in the development of psychology based on Christian values, Christian anthropology and theology.
The development of psychology is enriched by the appearance of the Christian school in the general humanitarian paradigm of psychological science.
The need to create an institute: the establishment of an educational, scientific and enlightening educational institute can create a basis for the development of Christian psychology. In addition, the ICP may become the second stage in Christian psychological education after the creation in 2002 of the Faculty of Psychology of the Russian Orthodox Institute of St. John the Evangelist. There is no such institution in modern Russian education. The creation of the IHP can fill in the natural "gap" in the education system.
Challenges facing the Institute (IHP)
The Institute of Christian Psychology is designed to create a scientific and educational base for the development of postgraduate education. Educational activities in the specialty Psychology in Russian education are quite developed. However, post-graduate education still needs additional steps. The creation of the IHP will contribute to this cause.
It is no longer a secret to anyone that Orthodox psychology has long since become a scientific and practical direction, which has its own unique paradigm, its own subject and method. As Doctor of Psychology, Professor of the Department of Church-Practical Disciplines of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and Seminary, Chairman of the Diocesan Society of Orthodox Psychologists of St. Petersburg L.F. Shekhoftsova:
“Over the past 15-20 years, Orthodox psychology has been developing in our country - a psychology based on the Orthodox understanding of man. Orthodox psychology is presented to us as a scientific discipline that integrates modern psychology and Christian anthropology, as well as applied knowledge.”(L.F. Shekhovtsova, Orthodox Psychology in Russia, Psychological Science and Education, 2011)
At the request of Orthodox (Christian) psychology, the Internet today issues almost 1,000,000 (million) links. In Russia, several higher educational institutions already have relevant departments and courses, including master's courses:
- (Moscow)
- Faculty of Psychology, St. John the Theologian Russian Orthodox University (Moscow)
- (Moscow)
- (Moscow)
- Department of Psychology, St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Academy (Moscow)
- (Moscow)
- Diocesan Society of Orthodox Psychologists of St. Petersburg in the name of St. Theophan the Recluse (St. Petersburg)
Subject morally-oriented Christian psychology is a person created in the image and likeness, in his body-soul-spirit trimeria and his unique personality, as well as all the processes of formation, development and functioning of the human personality, changing its qualities and orientation, in connection with its spiritual - moral state.
Personality (from the words face, face, hypostasis) - this is a unique and unique combination in the trinity of the body-soul-spirit of all the creative forces and abilities of a person, the spiritual and moral image of which determines not only the uniqueness, but also the whole direction of a person in life and his whole character sensibility, volition and mental activity.
Orthodox psychology - this is a field of knowledge based on Christian anthropology and the patristic tradition, exploring through the prism of an anthropological catastrophe all the patterns of changes in the formation and development of spiritual qualities, properties and states of a human personality in the context of three basic states (bodily, mental and spiritual).
What are the curricula on Christian and Orthodox psychology today and what is their content?
Institute of Christian Psychology, Moscow
1st module 3 months (quarter) - 130 hours - "Christian psychology of personality".
- Theological doctrine of personality
- Introduction to Personality Theory
- Spiritual path of personality
- Age stages of personality development
- Age-related psychology
2nd module 3 months (quarter) - 100 hours - "Christian family psychology".
- Family from the point of view of Christian anthropology
- Family life cycle stages
- Family roles and functions
- Functional and Dysfunctional Families
- Regulatory family crises
- Abnormal family crises
- Fundamentals of Social Psychology
3rd module 3 months (quarter) - 120 hours - "Christian practical psychology"
- Fundamentals of a Spiritually Oriented Approach in Practical Psychology
- social service
- Working with risk groups
- Prevention of emotional burnout
- The Psychopathology of Religious Life
- Clinical psychology
- Spiritually oriented work with emotional states
4th module 3 months (quarter) - 120 hours - "Introduction to spiritually-oriented psychological counseling"
- Theology of the Encounter
- Features of a Spiritually Oriented Approach in Counseling
- Fundamentals of psychological counseling
- Working Methods in Spiritually Oriented Counseling
- Psychology of communication
- bibliodrama
- Defining your own individual work style
The total period of study - 470 hours (calendar year)
Moscow Orthodox Institute of St. John the Theologian, fFaculty of Orthodox Psychology
A) The program of the course of additional education "Fundamentals of Christian Psychology"
- Psychology in the modern world.
- Personality - the norm and anomalies.
- Spiritual and psychological foundations of family and marriage.
- Social Psychology.
- Psychology of religion.
Volume - 118 accounts. hours, training period 3 months.
B) The program of the course of additional education "Introduction to Practical Christian Psychology":
- Self-attitude.
- Man and the World.
- Extreme psychology.
Volume - 88 accounts. hours, training period 3 months.
Russian Orthodox Institute of Culture
Course program (2 semesters - 8 months)
Main topics:
- General psychology: an orthodox approach
- Relationships in the family
- Orthodox approach in psychological counseling
- Orthodox anthropology
- Psychology and social ministry of the Church
- Fundamentals of Orthodox family psychotherapy
- Theory and practice of Orthodox psychological counseling
- Telephone psychological counseling
- Orthodoxy and psychotherapy. Understanding psychotherapy
- Psychological help in accepting traumatic circumstances
Terms of study: 8 months from the volume of 144 ac. hours (2 semesters of 4 months with a break for holidays).
Department of Catechists of the Minsk Theological School, module Orthodox Psychology
Course program:
- Introduction to the specialty 8 h.
- Introduction to General Psychology 40 hours (exam)
- Methodological foundations of Orthodox psychology 76 hours (exam)
- Fundamentals of Orthodox Psychological Counseling 30 hours (test)
- Family counseling 36 hours (test)
- Psychology of churching 20 hours (test)
- Crisis Orthodox Psychology 60 hours (exam)
- Practical Orthodox Psychology 60 hours (exam)
- Psychology of missionary work 20 hours (test)
- Psychological aspects of intra-church relations 20 hours (test).
Duration of study: 10 months from the volume of 370 ac. hours (2 semesters of 5 months with a break for holidays).
The most authoritative, as can be seen from the comparative characteristics, looks like a course in Institute of Christian Psychology(Moscow), which is headed by Andrey Lorgus. 4 modules in the amount of 470 training hours is, without a doubt, a thorough presentation of the material. At the same time, the theological doctrine of personality according to N.V. Lossky and the patristic teaching about the tripartite nature of the soul, the driving forces of the soul and the three states of the soul (natural, subnatural and supernatural), given in Vadim Korzhevsky’s book “Propaedeutics of asceticism, a compendium on patristic Orthodox psychology” is not the same thing. In addition, the cost of one module is 33,000 rubles, or about $500, and the entire course is about $2,000.
AT Moscow Orthodox Institute of St. John the Theologian(Faculty of Orthodox Psychology) the course is much simpler and focused on two additional education modules of 3 months each. The volume of modules is relatively small 118 ac. hours and 88 ac. hours or 206 ac. hours at a module cost of 28,000 rubles or $450, and the entire course is $900. Among the shortcomings of the course program, one can note a small amount of teaching hours and an increased focus on practical Orthodox psychology with a weak methodological basis for patristic psychology.
AT Russian Orthodox Institute of Culture the course of Orthodox psychology is relatively balanced, but the emphasis is also placed not on patristic Orthodox psychology, but on academic psychology and psychotherapy in a morally oriented version through the prism of the concept of “Understanding Psychotherapy” by F.E. Vasilyuk. The volume of the course is also relatively small, if not small - 144 academic hours or 2 semesters of 4 months at the lowest of the above tuition fees of 24,000 rubles. for 2 semesters or about $400.
Against this background, the course "Orthodox Psychology" of the professionally oriented module department of catechists of the Minsk Theological School in the amount of 370 training hours at the rate of 10 months at a cost of $ 200 looks almost free.
In general, the programs correlate in terms of volume, content and ratio of theoretical and practical parts. Of some obvious shortcomings that are conspicuous, one can still single out the insufficient attention of program developers to: Christian anthropology, the history of Christian psychology from the 16th to the 19th centuries, as well as patristic psychology and, in particular, the teachings of the holy fathers about the soul, the driving forces of the soul , passions of the soul and three states (fallen, primordial and redeemed). Otherwise, the movement towards the development of a new direction is quite confident and progressive.
In the context of a crisis of faith, many experts see in the development of Orthodox patristic psychology a new breath for Orthodoxy, not only in the form of traditional counseling, but also a professional approach to social service and work with crisis and most acute social problems, where, in addition to the help of a priest, help is also required. trained Orthodox psychologist. Moreover, in the long term, given the growing crisis tendencies, many clergy are already thinking about the presence of Orthodox psychological services and parish counseling services in parishes.
Head of the course "Orthodox psychology", crisis Orthodox psychologist, deputy. editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed scientific and practical journal Medicine - K.V. Yatskevich
Every direction in psychology has this or that relation to the concept of man, to this or that understanding of man. Psychology does not exist at all, by itself, it is always human psychology. Therefore, in order to study human psychology, we must have an image of the person himself, we must understand what his essence is, what his nature is. Each direction in psychology in its own way correlates with this issue - directly or indirectly.
Thus, when we talk about Christian psychology, we are first of all talking about a certain concept of man. In Christian psychology, man is the image and likeness of God., a person has an immortal soul and a number of other reasons. Psychology in this light is seen not as existing in itself, but as existing for the service of man. The fact is that the psyche is, to a certain extent, a tool. With the help of this tool we think, remember, make decisions and so on. But there is such a well-known saying: “Thinking does not think”. That is, by itself, your thinking cannot think, and your memory by itself, for the sake of interest, does not remember anything. You remember and think because it is part of your tasks as a person. In this regard, the study of the psyche is not the prerogative of a Christian or a psychologist who adheres to any other direction in psychology. The laws of the psyche are quite invariant, they are the same for everyone. There is no special psyche of memorization or psyche of perception of a person of the Christian faith. The laws of the psyche are general laws, another thing is what they are related to and in what framework they are.
Strictly speaking, Christian psychology, as a kind of new direction, is trying to correlate the body of psychological knowledge, both existing and new, with the Christian concept of man. This is the simple but important difference between it and other areas of psychology. This difference manifests itself primarily in those areas that are associated with personality, psychotherapy, in general, with a person. In studies, say, of the features of simultaneous perception or in something similar, one can hardly find any special things, the view of which a Christian psychologist would differ from the view of representatives of other areas of psychology. But besides this, there is still a difference in attitude towards the subject. An example of this is Christian medicine. Christian medicine does not mean that the doctor does not use the latest medical means, does not use surgery - of course, he does, but there is a different attitude towards patients, based on the principles of a kind and merciful attitude towards a person.
Does Christian psychology differ from traditional psychological trends in a different attitude towards man?
Yes, and not just a different attitude, but another understanding of man. In my opinion, this is the essence of Christian psychology..
How is the theory of Christian psychology applied in practice?
If we take the entire field of psychology, it turns out that there are not so many Christian psychologists. But some still apply the theory of Christian psychology in their work. Say F.E. Vasilyuk is engaged in psychotherapy, and his concept of psychotherapy includes some postulates of Christian psychology. Christian psychology poses other tasks for the psychotherapist, and, accordingly, other ways of fulfilling them follow from this, which are not implied by the traditional areas of psychotherapy.
Doesn't Christian psychology come into conflict with traditional psychological trends?
In my opinion, there is no confrontation here. The new position in science does not sweep aside all the knowledge already accumulated before its appearance. Indeed, it so happened that psychology was in confrontation with theology for a long time, this confrontation from the point of view of, so to speak, adolescence was inevitable and necessary. As a science, psychology needed to get back on its feet. And the model of scientific character for psychology was the natural sciences. But now it becomes obvious that behind all this we have lost a man. And not because we were so bad, but because the emerging science required the maximum specification of the scope of research and could not afford to deal with general issues that had a moral and ethical side. In other words, a huge amount of material was accumulated, a lot of special studies were carried out, which made psychology equal in rights with other sciences, but it suddenly turned out that we had missed a person.
And when the problem of an integral person now arises, then, naturally, the problem of that theory arises, from the standpoint of which we will speak about this integrity. If, on the other hand, we neglect the experience accumulated in science, we will fall into error. Since a Christian doctor cannot justify himself (if he missed the patient) by the fact that he does not trust infidel pharmacology, he must be a good doctor. Another thing is that he looks at the patient differently, he imagines that he can pray for his soul. Therefore, when they ask me who a Christian psychologist is, where he can work (we discussed this with students), the answer is simple: he is a good psychologist, he can work anywhere, but at the same time he still has some idea of a person.
B. S. Bratus, Doctor of Psychology. Sciences,
head Department of General Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University
