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CHRISTOTHERAPY AND THE HEALING OF COMMUNAL CONSCIOUSNESS HE PRINCIPAL FOCUS of my recent Christotheray1 is· an initial heuristic outlining in pastoral fashion f a Christian psychotherapy. Attention there centers on the healing and maturation of individuals rather than of groups or societies. The book does make it clear, however, that the meanings, values, assumptions and beliefs of individuals are in large measure the product of familial, societal, environmental factors. In the present paper a key interest is in the potential role of a Christian psychotherapy and specifically of Christotherapy in effecting a healing through enlightenment on the societal level and, in particular, on the level of the American psyche or consciousness. Discussion in this article will involve the following elements, some treated in detail, others only briefly and suggestively: (1) a consideration of the basic meaning of a Christian psychotherapy and specifically of Christotherapy; (2) a phenomenological exposition of some hypotheses of psychotherapists regarding the possible role of society in the generation and/or development of emotional disorders or " mental illness " in individuals; (3) the views of Bernard Lonergan on the relationship between the individual and society and the possible role of society in the causation of emotional illness; (4) the view of Christotherapy on society's causation of emotional illness; (5) the relationship of Christotheraphy, Noo- and Christo- genesis, and cosmopolis; (6) Christotherapy, liberation theology and conscientisation; (7) some brief suggestions regarding the possible role of Christotherapy in the healing of the American consciousness. 1 Bernard Tyrrell, Christotherapy: Healing through Enlightenment (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). 608 HEALING COMMUNAL CONSCIOUSNESS 609 The Issue of a Christian Psychotherapy A first step is to establish certain parameters within which and only within which a Christian psychotherapy can be seen to make any sense. This will be best accomplished by testing the notion of a Christian psychotherapy in the light of the biophysical , the intrapsychic, and the rational-emotive and existential psychotherapeutic approaches. Diverse Psychological Approaches The Bi

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