Religious Systems and Psychotherapy

Man's search for answers to the problem of human existence has led him from soothsayers to psychotherapists. He has sought guidance on an individual and group basis. This guidance has often resulted in organized institutions of a religious, political, or philosophical nature. The major world religions presented in this book are discussed from the psychotherapeutic and mental health point of view. Many other religious systems are included as well as selected specific topics of special concern. There are three major sections in this volume. Section one includes fourteen major world religious systems. Section two includes indigenous and emergent systems such as magic, exorcism and witchcraft, and section three deals with multiple systems and includes areas of special concern to both the student of religion and human behavior. Of particular interest is the section of discussions on the role of the religious man as psychotherapist and the psychotherapist as a religious man. Other concerns deal with ethics, values, morals and psychoanalysis. This book will serve as a resource volume for students, teachers and practicing professionals in the helping professions, particularly the fields of religion and mental health.