tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655255.post115704499718031212..comments2023-06-10T03:34:04.936-07:00Comments on Catholic Psychology: Catholic Psychology (101)Jim Hogue, MA, MFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01538788570433669515noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33655255.post-28516646630567453442008-06-01T06:56:00.000-07:002008-06-01T06:56:00.000-07:00Let me propose a "new psychology":According to the...Let me propose a "new psychology":<BR/><BR/><BR/>According to the miraculous Summa, happiness is described as goodness, form, and existence. Happiness, goodness, form, and existence are one in the same, which we give the name of “God.” Our goal as Catholics is to unite with God, which is to experience happiness, goodness, form, and existence. <BR/><BR/>Since the goal of catholic spirituality and psychotherapy is to obtain happiness, they can be united toward the same goal. Catholic dogma is immutable by definition, and psychotherapy is always changing. Therefore, to legitimately unite catholic spirituality with psychotherapy, catholic dogma must reform psychotherapy where there are conflicts. Here, catholic spirituality and psychotherapy can be united under the three basic principles of goodness, form, and existence.<BR/><BR/>The experience of goodness is to “feel good,” even in the midst of suffering. For example, meaning in life and hope allows a person to endure a time of pain. Since existential psychotherapy helps patients discover meaning in life in the midst of suffering, it can also be used to help the patient experience the catholic understanding of goodness and happiness.<BR/><BR/>Form and existence are one in the same. The reason we reject logical contradictions is because they represent a lack of existence [i.e. an apple that is not an apple is nothing, or a + (-a) = 0]. Therefore, logical form represents form, and thinking logically helps us experience form, which is happiness. Since cognitive psychotherapy helps the patient think logically to feel better, it can also be used to help patients experience the catholic understanding of form and happiness.<BR/><BR/>Happiness is existence. Superstitious thinking is logical, but lacks relevant information. This can often result in false conclusions. Therefore, thinking logically is not sufficient in discovering happiness; all relevant information must be exposed. Since psychoanalysis and client-centered therapy help the patient make unconscious and subconscious material conscious, they can also be used to help patients experience the catholic understanding of existence and happiness.<BR/><BR/>James 2:24 states, “You see that a man is justified by works and not faith alone.” When we form habits, we see that these habits, in turn, form us. Behaviorist Albert Bandura writes about this in detail. He says, in his book Social Learning Theory, “…reinforcement serves principally as an informative and motivational operation rather than as a mechanical response strengthener.” The Summa explains that the human soul is a mind that thinks and a will that chooses. Therefore, if guided by logic, behavior informs the mind by exposing missing relevant information, and motivates the will by increasing the goodness of hope. Behavior therapy, therefore, can help patients perform good works to experience the catholic understanding of goodness, form, existence, and happiness. <BR/><BR/>In general, men are more likely to find happiness by thinking logically, than women who are more likely to identify what “feels good.” A husband who has concluded a logical belief, but his wife indicates that it does not feel “right,” or if a wife has concluded that a belief feels “right,” but it is illogical, they both must cooperate by looking for missing relevant information until the belief is both logical and feels “right.” This leads to a greater understanding of happiness for both of them. <BR/><BR/>Where there is love, there is form, since, “…love binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Cor 3:14).” Love is what unites a married couple. If they unite physically, they establish the existence of a child. If they unite psychologically, they can establish the existence of useful missing relevant information. Both give them happiness. <BR/><BR/>However, if a husband and wife willfully treat relevant information as nonexistent, it is as though they have committed a psychological abortion. If they selectively choose to resolve only certain logic/feeling conflicts, it is as though they have committed psychological contraception. Psychological contraception can then leads to psychological divorce, which leads to a physical divorce. <BR/><BR/>Gay sex is not love. Since there is lack of psychological and anatomical complementarity, disharmony and unhappiness is inevitable. Even though it may feel “good” or “right” at the time, it lacks logical form and treats contradictory information as nonexistent. Furthermore, since gay sex lacks physical form, it does not establish the physical existence of a child. <BR/><BR/>Certainly, many psychotherapists indicate that abortion, the use of contraception, and gay sex are fine, and even psychologically healthy. However, guided by catholic spirituality, these are some of the areas necessary for psychotherapeutic reform, making patients legitimately happier.Psychotheosophyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06975278455954922509noreply@blogger.com