Routledge Where the Waters Meet: Convergence and Complementarity in Therapy and Theology

Where the Waters Meet offers the reader a new way of viewing an old subject. So often psychology and counselling therapies have been, and still are, seen as competitors, or even enemies, vying for supremacy as the true religion. This book invites us to take a fresh look at these two fields, each with their own experience and dogma, and Review "Good theology, like good therapy, makes you think and feel in new ways. David Buckley does just that and offers a fresh and stimulating contribution to this vital dialogue."--Alistair Ross, Psychodynamic Counsellor and Supervisor; Head of Counselling Training "One of the weaknesses of psychoanalytic theory is that it does at times seek to 'explain'--fine, of course, if explanation is a suggestion as to what a particular psychological phenomenon may mean, but disastrous when it is taken as 'gospel'. One of the weaknesses of much religious thinking is equally the attempt to explain, using a different discourse, but sometimes setting down what for believers can become tablets of stone. In this book the reader will find something totally different. As the author writes: The emphasis in this book is...to point to the complementarity between certain understandings of faith and a psychodynamic understanding of human nature, so that one may shed light on the other. This objective is well met, firstly by setting out some theological premises which enhance interpretation rather than dictate it; secondly by describing key psychoanalytic ideas (each section setting the scene for the reader not versed in either theological or psychoanalytic concepts)--then proceeding to examine some of the major existential themes in the light of both models: responses to the concept of evil, salvation, the inner spirit, presence and aloneness. An intriguing, personal reflection."--Michael Jacobs, author of Illusion: A Psychodynamic Interpretation of Thinking and Belief About the Author Buckley, David