Kontakt 2007, 9(2):270-276 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2007.042

Possible analogy between religious experience of applied Christianity and action of psychotherapyHealth and Social Sciences

Alena Kajanová

Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra sociální práce a sociální politiky

The article deals with a relationship between psychology and religion in terms of their action on the individual personality from the theoretical standpoint as well as from the standpoint of practical research focused on possible analogous features of the religion and psychotherapy. The theoretical part is aimed at historical associations between Christianity and psychology and/or psychotherapy and at psychological elements of religion. References to Jung teachings and Frankl logotherapy are primarily presented. In the practical part, the target of the described qualitative probe was mapping of the importance of the religious faith, description of its relationship to the normality and optimality of individuals and to empirical verification of "therapeutic" effects of the religious faith. The target group included 47 religious Christians 18 to 45 years of age actively practicing their faith. The examination was carried out in the cities Třeboň and České Budějovice. It was based on a structured interview in the form of a questionnaire comprising open and closed questions with a combination of a semantic differential - point scale. The results of the examination supplemented by knowledge acquired by a secondary analysis of data comprising inter alia thematically similarly aimed researches indicated that in religious people, the religious faith is a source of the meaning of life and hope and that it simultaneously determines contents of the life of the religious people. The faith considerably enters the everyday life of each religious person and his/her attitudes to the life; it forms a foundation stone of his/her moral attitudes, and in attitudes to him/her it shows more clearly the general striving throughout the life. The religion also represents a considerable value in the ladder of values in the life of the subjects. In many directions, effects of the religious faith are similar to effects of certain psychotherapeutic approaches. However, in addition to the therapeutic effect, there is also a considerable personal benefit of the religion for the religious person as an individual.

Keywords: Religion; faith; personality; personality development; psychotherapy

Received: September 11, 2007; Accepted: October 12, 2007; Published: December 21, 2007  Show citation