Psychological Analysis of the Phenomenon of Religious Experience Distortion
M.S. Filonik
Консультативная психология и психотерапия September 22, 2019 DOI: 10.17759/cpp.2015230506 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Phenomena of substitution Psychotherapy of believers Self-esteem Self-value |
| Key points | Argues that substitution phenomena distort spiritual experience and that difficulty recognizing own feelings and deficient self-valuation are common psychological disturbances among religious clients. |
Abstract
The article addresses the problem of distortions of the spiritual experience, with which psychotherapist encounters while working with religious clients. In the focus are the phenomena of substitution, which are understood as distortions of the spiritual experience. The person himself sees them as normal, spiritually right, healthy and as being signs of spiritual development etc. Along the line of conceptualizing the practice of working with believers the article introduces the analysis of such psychological dis- turbances as: being unable to recognize own feelings, deficiency of valuing own self. The ways in which such phenomena occur are discussed, especially their peculiarities among religious people. Negative consequences of such psychological problems for spiritual life of Christians are analyzed. Main reasons behind these phenomena and some recommendations in addressing them during psychotherapy are pointed out. The associations between the problems of self-esteem and self-value are given.