3pm, Kennedy Tower, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside (Departmental Lecture Theatre)
Chris Cook (University of Durham): The Philokalia and Psychotherapy: The Praying Cure
[Psychiatry Special Lecture Series]
“The Philokalia is an anthology of spiritual texts in the Eastern Christian tradition, spanning the 4th to the 15th centuries. Hugely influential as an expression of Orthodox spirituality it reflects a view of the spiritual life which is deeply psychological. Its diagnosis of the human condition reflects influences of classical philosophy, as well as the experiences of the desert fathers and mothers of the 4th century. In some ways its remedies for this condition are very modern, and reflect some common principles with contemporary psychotherapy, but fundamentally it offers a “praying cure” rather than a “talking cure” and it challenges contemporary notions of the nature of good therapeutic outcomes.”