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UDATED STAGE ONE, Escaping the Killer Shadow Self. This is an evolving long form of Stage one of the ten stages

Fraser Trevor

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Title: UDATED STAGE ONE, Escaping the Killer Shadow Self. This is an evolving long form of Stage one of the ten stages
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

We admit that the traumas buried in our unconscious rule our lives, makes us powerless to embody the truth, and drives us to act out in w...

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We admit that the traumas buried in our unconscious rule our lives, makes us powerless to embody the truth, and drives us to act out in ways destructive to ourselves, to others:</blockquote>
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 Our self-constructed make up has many different functioning parts. Years ago when we first started exploring our interior world through self-expression , we were astounded to discover all of the different parts of self that we have inside of us. As various aspects spilled out through our spontaneous experimentation with emotional collages, writings, drawings and paintings, we saw that not only did we have parts of different ages and temperaments inside, but also we had masculine and feminine aspects of self that were all struggling for expression. These became the make-up of the transitional child within often hidden within a private hidden subconscious The many self-constructed parts that we had so expertly tucked away out of sight in the aim of living a perceived highly functioning life. Were often younger, more hidden and hurting parts of our life. There are many parts that we had exiled away because they judged unacceptable showing the true face of being emotionally needy describing a life of sorrow, loss, shame, fear, hurt, and anger. So how do we manage our Emotional Pain threshholds Popular acceptable therapy does not readily acknowledge that we all have a host of different characters inside our consciousness. Perhaps because we fear the idea of having many different parts inside of a fragmented mind this can lead to the stigma of Multiple Personality Disorder or as it is now called, Dissociative Identity Disorder. The reasoning behind this is that we have many personality parts is because we each create ingenious psychological mechanisms to hold and protect against feeling our unprocessed emotional pain. It is possible to directly process emotional pain without dissociation, so that there is no need for "fragmented parts work". Most of us can only process the emotional pain of human experience gradually. Working with dissociated parts is a gentle and creative way to slowly unravel emotional and psychological pain. When we understand that we have a rich multiplicity of fragmentation inside us and that do not have to dissociate away from this variety in our human nature to appear "sane." Understanding and integrating all of the different fragmented parts of ourselves can be creative and even fun. We each find profound ways to manage the emotional pain from our past. All of us have various hidden selves that have different strategies to deal with emotional hurt and physical trauma.  Most profoundly, we each have access to the child within that we were born with that can witness the multiplicity of our emotional pain and dissociated system with great care, creativity, and curiosity.  
 
Our Child Within is the dynamic and eternal energy force that not only can witness the emotionality of our personality parts, but can also lead them, love them enough to heal and re-integrate, as well as encourage the gifts and strengths that they are meant to bring into our lives...No Part of our child within is bad or to blame for our situation. Understanding that we have many different fragmented selves inside can free us to creatively balance ourselves. Our multiplicity, once harmonised and accepted, makes us into one whole perfect child within that can function with aliveness, integrity, and love. And, each part, when its strengths are recognised, can be a talent in our daily life, when outer circumstances require their unique gifts and skills. All of our fragmented parts are a valuable part of our inner ecosystem and they all want to play constructive inner roles. Problems arise when our inner aspects are forced into extreme roles, and influenced by trauma and respect abuse, shaming, repression, rejection, disapproval, or challenges in our outer false family systems. Current outer stress can activate our child within in extreme ways as well. Most of us silently struggle with what we might call our "inner demons". We might secretly fear that we are crazy when the various repressed emotional parts of ourselves become activated. Sometimes our forbidden needs, feelings and desires leak out and we are surprised at our behaviour. It is common to hear people say after they do or say something extreme, "I just wasn't myself." 
 
..................... Many of us live highly controlled lives with only occasional emotional lapses into the intensity of our old emotional pain. As we navigate through our lives, we develop very honed and controlled managerial parts of self that keep us functioning, working, paying the bills, and navigating our family dynamics. To stuff away the emotional pain that we are afraid to feel, we might take actions that are "not like ourselves." When we do something "crazy" or become flooded emotionally, our managerial parts of self become overwhelmed and lose control. Because we repress what we cannot accept about ourselves, the hidden and rejected parts of our personality tend to distort themselves into what we call our "inner demons." Any feeling, need, urge or behaviour trait that was disallowed in the past becomes exiled from our awareness. Yet whatever is forcibly exiled still exists and always threatens to erupt. Our entire personality organises around keeping unacceptable needs and emotions sublimated. We have many personalities that grew out of disrespect and broken bonding. All of our personalities compete, have different goals, are conflicted, and subtly stop us from receiving gifts. The bigger the trauma, the larger the fractures we have inside, and the more independently these selves will operate. Our original Child Within is the inherent nature of the creative human mind that protects itself in ingenious ways. We all have an indeterminate number of sub-personalities, each having their own age, desires, temperaments, desires, goals, and talents. These sub-personalities form our inner family system. And, each part of ourselves - when accepted, listened to and tended to - has a powerful and particular strength to bring to our daily functioning lives. When we wish to explore our Child Within self-expression and can create a safe space for emotional releasing, we can begin to creatively understand and map out how we operate on the inside. We can learn how to be inclusive of all of our dissociated parts, and discover the gifts and strengths inherent in the currently extreme and protective behaviours that create imbalance in our life. The Child Within is Larger than its dysfunctions In addition to the collection of personality parts that make up our psyches, each and every one of us has a solid and unchanging child within. This is the wholeness that we are born with and the wholeness that we will return to when we die. Our Child Within has a natural potential to be a good leader of our internal system of dissociated parts. A beautiful and relieving truth is that the shadow dissociated self is not inherently bad or dangerous - we have become distorted and have been protecting our authenticity in ingenious ways. Our shadow self organises it self to protect our dissociated Self at all costs. If the parts of our personality can come to trust our perfect child within - We will experience an integrated life of harmony, creativity, and profound self-compassion. Our dissociated self sacrifice itself and its own safety to remove our dissociating Self from perceived harm.  Holding traumatic emotions for us so that we can function in daily life. Shadow self help us to dissociate from imagined on-going childhood trauma. The tricky thing is our shadow selves often blend their extreme feelings and thoughts with our illusory Self. When they take over our consciousness, we think our shadow dissociated self is who we really are. It is quite profound how the parts of our psyche mobilise forces to protect the precious dissociated Self. A functioning human system will mobilise to protect its dissociated self - at all costs. "Imagine a tribe of dissociated inner people of various ages and degrees of vulnerability, led by a Shadow Self. In the face of perceived danger of repeated childhood trauma, the tribe moves the Shadow Self to a place of extreme dissociation and certain parts come forward blanket the danger with an addictive substance. This level of protection is especially true of our "bad manager" parts of the shadow self. Some of us have very concise and controlled parts of ourselves that manage major portions of our pseudo functional lives. Our job is to differentiate our Shadow Self from our managerial, protective parts as well as our repressed and exiled "younger" emotional parts. Once the Shadow Self has separated away from the feelings and thoughts of our consciousness, the parts regain their trust of the Shadow Self unauthentic self-leadership which once more leads to chaos, drama and ultimately disaster. 
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 The Aim of Recovery is Self Autonomy 
We can think of our Shadow Self as a demented mediator that seeks to depolarise the conflicts of our consciousness helping to sort out all of the varying needs that we have created inside ourselves. Our parts of the shadow self do not disappear when our dissociated Self takes up its false leadership. They simply become less extreme and they begin to hide all our unique gifts and purposes within their less dissociated roles. Sometimes our child within can develop gifts so profoundly they can even step into the leadership at times when given permission from our Shadow constructed Self. But without help and support will withdraw from leadership when the Shadow Self feels threatened. Polarisation of the shadow self self numbing</div>
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When outer influences intrude in our current life or from our family of origin, through derogatory attitudes, prejudices, unrealistic expectations, or when shocking or traumatic interactions happen, our child within can take over leadership from our Shadow Self. The child within can also take on historical family losses and burdens, and take in outer family system depressions, illnesses and emotional heaviness. As one part of self takes on an extremely protective role it unbalances the entire inner system and takes over the leadership responsibilities from the Authentic Self. When the parts of self become polarised, intense inner conflict and inner competition ensues within the psyche. Trauma of our childhood current and ancestral When the people that we love, primarily live, identify, and express from one or more extreme parts of themselves, we will find ourselves adjusting our personalities in extreme ways to balance with and interact with them. When our outer interactions are unbalanced, we move out of our centre of our Authentic Self to belong and harmonise with our group or ancestral family system. The same thing happens in our inner family system. When trauma occurs - when we are abandoned, rejected, shocked, scared, or abused physically, sexually or emotionally - our inner family system polarises into diss-functioning extremes. Polarised Killer Shadow Self Highly polarised shadow self are very rigid and defended. To try to change any part of ourselves without considering the often dysfunctional family system that it operates in - will activate strong resistance. It is helpful to be respectful towards the parts of ourselves that feel scared and defended as they are just trying to do their job to keep us damaged. Most people are polarised in their external family systems. Ancestral Exiles of dysfunction</div>
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Any part that was hurt, rejected, scared, or shamed as child will often go into hiding and be repressed. These highly charged emotional sub-personalities become the exiles of our inner family system. These exiles are often overwhelmed with feelings of rejection and unlovability. Like any exiles, these parts become desperate to express themselves. They long for opportunities to break free and share their stories and their pain. They desperately want to be loved, listened to, accepted, and cared for. Often exiles also carry most of the feelings for the inner family system, because the other more managerial parts of self often dump their unwanted feelings onto the exiles to get on with the process of functional living.</div>
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 These hurt and rejected inner parts are very vulnerable, and if they are not brought forward into the light of consciousness with care and maturity, they can flood us with uncomfortable feelings and memories. They are also in danger of looking for love in unhealthy ways. They tend to want to look to redeem their inner pain in the same kinds of unhealthy situations that hurt them in the first place. These hurt and exiled parts of self will seek love, acceptance, and protection from the very types of people that cannot give it to them. This sets up a hopeless and repeating pattern of both inner and outer rejection. Many people mistakenly think that their sub-personalities are their Authentic Selves, as "shadow managers" can often be quite highly functioning, and even inspiring at times. Shadow Selves, however, live in constant fear and dread of the escape of the ancient ancestral voices of our past generations. It is important to note that the shadow self does not accept all parts of the self like the child within does. Shadow Selves try to control life in such a way as to avoid any person or situation that might trigger the emotional pain of the past. This control and repression can sometimes look very noble, spiritual, creative, and highly achieving. Highly functioning shadow selves can fill our lives with edifying and creative activities that in the long run feel empty, because they are done from avoidance of, and compensation for past emotional pain instead of self-acceptance. Our Shadow Self can be highly functioning and efficient in the world. We can accomplish great things - but in an unbalanced way - that is out of touch with the child within. Shadow selves in contrast to the child within are a forced and extreme role that polarises away from inner pain of our addictive nature. Shadow Selves must expend enormous amounts of energy to keep the repressed need, hurt, fear, and painful memories and sensations buried. From this place of dissociation we strive, control, try to be a perfectionist, or to gain approval, or we live in rigid denial of what is arising within. The Shadow self is ruled by ancient ancestral voices must sacrifice its-selves for the eternal dtysfunctioning shadow self and can rarely relax. The more competent these shadow selves become, the more we rely on them, and the more the child within is denied. Most often we can feel lonely, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Like the lost ancestors, our child within need love, balance, nurturance, fun, acceptance, care and rest. These ancestral voices from a long dead past - only being a redundant part of shadow self - come to believe that everything depends on them. The more they accomplish the less they believe in - or are willing listen to the wisdom of the perfect child within.</div>
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 When we become overwhelmed and exhausted with all the perceived responsibilities, the ancestors can become once more activated, and can threaten to take over our shadow selves. When the ancestors take over we can be uncontrollably flooded with difficult feelings. The emergency selfs firefighters will then swoop in to help us dissociate, or to douse the dreaded exiled feelings, with little regard for the consequences. The techniques that the firefighting shadow self uses, include extreme and numbing activities such as self-mutilation, binge eating, drug or alcohol abuse, excessive eating or sexual activity, physical illness, or other extreme forms of dissociation. The aim of our self destructive firefighting self is to engage in any dissociative, distracting, or self-serving activity that will numb or distract from intensely arising emotional pain triggers. This extreme mode of coping with emotional pain is the place that all unbalanced, addictive and obsessive behaviours come from. And while we appear controlled and organised and highly rational, the shadow selfs firefighters will use any means to numb emotional pain. These extremely self-focused behaviours often leave a wake of chaos and destruction , in relationships and in our physical body. We struggle against some form of self-rejection and repression . When we understand the inner workings of our perfect child within, we can see becoming unconditionally present is a necessary practice to incorporate into our life. Restoring Balance, Harmony, to our child within Our perfect Child within already has everything encoded within itself to heal. Even the most conflicted inner internal addictive behaviour when challenged by the reality of the child within can heal itself - if the process of listening to all perspectives of our inner shadow world is honoured. When our freed child within takes its true seat within a reformed consciousness we will enjoy the process of seeing and expressing the new creation of our resurrected selves. It is a relief and a joy to creatively explore and sort out the map of our psyche and understand how we uniquely operate. Through inner self-acceptance, the gifts and strengths that we buried along with our pain are finally able to come to the forefront for expression in our daily life. It is most helpful however, to do this inner work when we are not living in a dangerous or triggering outer environment. Parts will have a hard time leaving their roles when they are continually be activated by other people. Often it is important to find a quiet time away from the stresses of life to explore the inner parts of our psyche. It is profoundly relieving to discover firsthand that all parts of ourselves want to harmonise and contribute to our best life. Every part of us has a valuable role to play, and each part will eagerly leave their extreme roles given the love, self-acceptance, and inner nurturing that we can provide through our Core/Authentic Self the child within. Our Creative Child Within can be a profoundly moving and fun process where we come to respect and appreciate all of the recovering parts of ourselves that have kept us safe, helped us function, and brought us intact to this present moment.</div>

UDATED STAGE ONE, Escaping the Killer Shadow Self. This is an evolving long form of Stage one of the ten stages

We admit that the traumas buried in our unconscious rule our lives, makes us powerless to embody the truth, and drives us to act out in w...

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The Ten Stages are studied recovery.They are a source of reconnection a method of unlearning and a reintroduction to our child within which leads us back to our one true intuitive voice.We start to learn and come out of our protective dysfunctional shell and reclaim our lives. We reconstruct and being to understand our wonder filled journey of discovery as we explore our past lives. The joy of release from our misconceptions, ancient life roads that have caused us dysfunctional behaviours becomes ever more clear to us as

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The Varieties of Religious Experience "The highest flights of charity, devotion, trust, patience, bravery to which the wings of human nature have spread themselves have been flown for religious ideals." 1: This is a study of the psychology of original religious experiences, not religious institutions. Religious geniuses have often shown nervous instability, such as George Fox or St Theresa. Medical materialism, sexual origins refuted. Perhaps the neurotic temperament is best to receive religious inspiration. 2: Religion is the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men, in relation to whatever they consider divine, which is always solemn. Christian saints callous to disease in a unique way. Religious men alone have self-will happily subjected to the divine. 3: The deities are known only in idea. Kant and Plato suggest that human consciousness has sense of reality beyond any of the "senses", for instance in religious hallucinations, such as feeling a 'presence'. Automatism seems common. 4 & 5: There are 'once-born' people for whom happiness and optimism come naturally, eg Walt Whitman. Comfortable 'healthy-midedness' has overtaken the old hell-fire theology in Christianity, and is strong in the 'Mind-cure movement' or 'New Thought'. Different religions suit different people. 6 & 7: Many feel that the 'sick soul' needs curing, eg Luther, Tolstoy. Buddhism and Christianity are religions of deliverance: man must die to an unreal life before he can be born into the real life. 8: Many punish themselves for feeling that the self is divided into an evil and unhealthy and the good and godly, eg Augustine . 9 & 10: Many religions hold to conversion, where a self, wrong inferior and unhappy, becomes unified, right superior and happy, in consequence of its firmer hold upon religious realities. Conversion may wane, but so too can love. 11, 12 & 13: Saintly people have an energy and hopefulness, sometimes in excess, but always instructive to the rest of us., eg, Loyola, St Theresa, General Booth. 14 & 15: New religious ideas are heresies, but they can become stifling orthodoxy. Devoutness can become fanaticism, purity can be obsessive, tenderness and charity can become willingness to accept evil, and asceticism lead to self-torture. 16 &17 Mystical experiences briefly grant hugely significant revelations, and leave the mystic feeling as if his own will were in abeyance. They are incapable of being expressed in words, but of immense importance to these who have them. Hindu 'yoga', Buddhism, Suffism and Christian 'orison' offer methods of achieving them. 18: Philosophy cannot prove any religion true, but it can show up obvious errors and might begin a science of religions. 19: Prayer cannot change the physical world directly, but it can bring comfort and security. Many people have seemingly genuine experience of being directed by the divine, even if they may come from the 'B-region' of their own minds. 20: Psychologically, religion can grant new zest to life and give assurance of safety and love. The warring gods and formulas cancel each other, but there is a certain uniformity in an uneasiness about the self and its salvation through faith. NB: Personally, I agree in principle with the Buddhistic doctrine of Karma. For practical life, the chance of salvation is enough.

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Adler, A. (1964). Social interest: A challenge to mankind. Capricorn. (No longer in print.) Adler, A. (H. Ansbacher & R. Ansbacher, Eds.) (1956.) The individual psychology of Alfred Adler: A systematic presentation in selections from his writings. New York: Basic Books. Adler, A. (H. Ansbacher & R. Ansbacher, Eds.) (1979). Superiority and social interest. New York: W. W. Norton. (Part 5 is "Religion and individual psychology") ISBN: 0393009106 Adler, A., & Jahn, E. (1933). Religion and Psychology. Frankfurt. (A classic work in German.) Adler, K., & Deutsch, D. (Eds.) (1959). Essays in individual psychology. Grove Press. (Section 2, by Albert Reissner, is titled "Religion and Psychotherapy") Adler, M. J. (1994). Platonism and Positivism in Psychology. Transaction/Rutgers University. (Mortimer Adler discusses Freud's contribution to psychology and his views on religion.) ISBN: 0393009106 Aletti, M., & Rossi, G. (Eds.) (1999). Ricerca di se e trascendenza. Torino: Centro Scientifico Editore. (My admittedly rough translation: Research on the transcendent. Unfortunately, I do not speak Italian, but I have great respect for the editors. Among the contributors to the book are many other highly respected scholars, and the chapter titles cover a wide range of areas in the psychological study of religion. If you know Italian, this should be worthwhile reading. I am donating my copy to the Georgia Southern University library, so if you are in the U.S. and you cannot locate a copy through your bookstore, your university library may be able to borrow my copy via interlibrary loan.) ISBN: 8876403256 Allport, G. W. (1950). The individual and his religion. New York: Macmillan. ASIN: 0020831307 Allport, G. W., Vernon, P. E., & Lindzey, G. (1960). Study of values (3rd ed.). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. Alpert, N. L. (1985). Religion and psychology: A medical subject analysis and research index with bibliography. Washington, DC: Abbe. ISBN: 0881640352 Altemeyer, B., & Hunsberger, B. (1997). Amazing conversions: Why some turn to faith and others abandon religion. Amherst, NY: Prometheus. [Intended for a general audience, this book tries to explain some of the characteristics of people who leave vs. those who adopt religion.] ISBN: 1573921475 Altman, I., & Ginat, J. (1996). Polygamous families in contemporary society. New York: Cambridge University Press. (A fascinating glimpse at religion and society, in the context of family relationships.) ISBN: 0521567319 Austin, James H. (1998). Zen and the brain: Toward an understanding of meditation and consciousness. Massachussetts Institute of Technology Press. ISBN: 0262011646 Balch, R., & Taylor, D. (1984). Seekers and Saucers: The Role of the Cultic Milieu in Joining a UFO Cult. In Kelly, D. H. (ed.) Deviant Behavior: A Text-Reader in The Sociology of Deviance, 2nd Ed. New York: St Martin's Press. (Discusses a participant observation study of the Heaven's Gate group.) ISBN: 0312119410 Batson, C. D., Schoenrade, P., & Ventis, W. (1993). Religion and the individual: A social-psychological perspective. New York: Oxford University. (Presents a fine overview of the field from a perspective building on Allport's. I am told that this is the most commonly-used book in the field in European classrooms.) ISBN: 0195062094 Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1997). Illustrated encyclopedia of active new religions. New York: Rosen. (Describes 1200 active new religious movements; revised edition, with CD ROM. Originally published 1993.) ISBN: 0823925862 Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1998). Original Sins : Reflections on the History of Zionism and Israel. Interlink Pub Group. ISBN: 1566561310 Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1989). Prolegomena to the Psychological Study of Religion. Bucknell Univ. Press. ISBN: 0838751598 Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1993). The annotated dictionary of modern religious movements. Danbury, CT: Grolier. (Describes 2200 new religious movements since 1800, and includes a CD-Rom.) Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1996). Psychoanalytic studies of religion: Critical assessment and annotated bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood. (An exhaustive survey of the psychoanalytic perspectives on religion.) ISBN: 0313273626 Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1992). Despair and deliverance: Private salvation in contemporary Israel. New York: SUNY Press. (Describes salavation and other religious movements in Israel since the 1973 war.) ISBN: 0791410005 Beit-Hallahmi, B., & Argyle, M. (1997). The psychology of religious behavior, belief and experience. London: Routledge. (Examines the many and varied factors that may be used to answer the question, "Why do people have religious beliefs, and what are the effects of those beliefs on other aspects of life?" An interesting and useful book!) ISBN: 0415123313 Bell, R. M. (1985). Holy Anorexia. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. (Describes some of the physical extremes that people undergo in pursuit of religious experiences.) ISBN: 0226042057 Belzen, J. A. (Ed.) (2000). Aspects in contexts: Studies in the history of psychology of religion. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi. (An in-depth examination of the people and trends that have affected psychology of religion.) ISBN: 904201511X Belzen, J. A. (Ed.) (1997). Hermeneutical approaches in psychology of religion. Amsterdam: Rodopi. (Fourteen essays that depict the contribution that the hermeneutical approaches -- contrasted with positivistic, statistical approaches currently dominating the field -- can make toward the psychological understanding of religion.) ISBN: 9042000333 Bhugra, D. (ed.) (1996). Psychiatry and religion: Context, consensus and controversies. London: Routledge. (This book "attempts to narrow the gulf between spiritual and psychological welfare" and investigates several religious and denominational perspectives.) ISBN: 0415165121 Boisen, A. (1936). The exploration of the inner world. New York: Harper Bros. ASIN: 0812210204 Brown, L. B. (ed.) (1973). Psychology & religion. Baltimore, MD: Penguin. (A collection of interesting articles from 1926 - 1971.) Brown, L. B. (1987). The psychology of religious belief. London: Academic. (An excellent overview of the factors that affect religious belief, and of the consequences of religious belief. Unfortunately, the publisher is now out of stock.) Brown, L. B. (1994). The human side of prayer. Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press. ISBN: 0891350926 Brown, L. B. (Ed.) (1994). Religion, Personality, and Mental Health (Recent Research in Psychology) Springer Verlag. ISBN: 0387977732 Browning, D. S. (1987). Religious thought & the modern psychologies. Fortress Press. (A well-respected view of religion and psychology.) ISBN: 0800623223 Browning, D.S., Jobe, T., and Evison, I.S. (1990). Religious and Ethical Factors in Psychiatric Practice. Nelson-Hall. (Aimed at the psychiatric practitioner.) ISBN: 0830412255 Bulka, R. V. (1998). Work, love, suffering, and death: A Jewish/psychological perspective through logotherapy. (Bulka builds on Frankl's approach in this examination of Judaism and psychology.) ISBN: 0765799960 Bulkeley, K. (1999). Visions of the night: Dreams, religion and psychology. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. (Bulkeley attempts to forge connections between religious views of dreams as revealing divine truths, and psychological perspectives on dreams.) ISBN 0791442845 Capps, D. (2001). Freud and Freudians on religion: A reader. New Haven, CT: Yale. (Includes selections on religion by Freud, Bakan, Erikson, Kohut, Kristeva and Winnicott.) ISBN 0300082010 Capps, D. (1997). Men, religion, and melancholia: James, Otto, Jung, and Erikson. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. (Examines the idea that melancholia motivates us to become religious.) ISBN: 0300069715 Capps, D. (1987). Deadly sins and saving virtues. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress. (A well-respected psychologist's view of theology. Unfortunately, it is now out of print.) Capps, D., & Jacobs, J. L. (Eds.) (1995). The struggle for life: A companion to William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience. Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Monograph Series, Number 9. (Wonderfully insightful essays from 19 scholars concerning James's monumental work. Available from the publisher, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.) ISBN: 1882380029 Capps, D., Rambo, L., & Ransohoff, P. (1976). Psychology of religion: A guide to information resources. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Co. (A fine bibliography of books and articles on the psychology of religion, particularly for researchers interested in the field's history.) ISBN: 0810313561 Cardena, E., Lynn, S. J., & Krippner, S. (Eds.) (2000). Varieties of anomalous experience: Examining the scientific evidence. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (Addresses near-death experiences, out of body experiences, and the effects of other unusual phenomena.) ISBN: 1557986258 Charet, F. X. (1993). Spiritualism and the foundations of C. G. Jung's psychology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. (An interesting discussion of the spiritualist movement and its impact on Jung.) ISBN: 0791410943 Coles, R. (1999). The secular mind. Princeton Univ. Press. (Reflections on the attempt to use science to study religious questions.) ISBN: 0791410943 Corbett, L. (1996). The religious function of the psyche. London: Routledge. (Builds on Jung's analytic perspective.) ISBN: 0415144019 Corveleyn, J., & Hutsebaut, D. (eds.) (1994). Belief and unbelief: Psychological perspectives. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Editions Rodopi. International Series in the Psychology of Religion, vol. 3. (Essays and empirical reports from a variety of perspectives.) ISBN: 9051836732 Covington, D. (1996). Salvation on Sand Mountain : Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia. Penguin USA. (One man's experience with "serpent handling.") ISBN: 0140254587 Cumes, J. (2000). The human mirror: The narcissistic imperative in human behavior. Available online: Online Originals. (Very worthwhile comments on the negative effects that narcissism has on ourselves, our religions, and our cultures.) Danesh, H. B. (1997). The psychology of spirituality: From divided self to integrated self. Landegg Academy Press. (A mass-market paperback devoted to psychological exploration of existential and consciousness issues.) ISBN: 3906726029 De Silva, P. (2000). An introduction to Buddhist psychology (3rd ed.). New York: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN: 0742508579 DiCenso, J. (1998). The other Freud: Religion, culture and psychoanalysis. New York: Routledge. (Suggests that Freud's views on religion deserve more study than they tend to receive.) ISBN: 0415196590 Dossey, L. (1993). Healing words: The power of prayer and the practice of medicine. San Francisco: Harper Colllins. (A good "popular press" book on the interrelationships between religion and health.) ISBN: 0061043834 0061043834 Eisenberg, G. D. (1988). Smashing the idols: A Jewish inquiry into cult phenomenon. Jason Aronson, Inc. (A Jewish perspective on new religious movements.) ISBN: 0876689748 Ellis, B. (2001). Raising the devil: Satanism, new religions, and the media. Lexington, KY: Univ. of Kentucky. (A specialist in American folklore describes how Pentecostal religion, conspiracy theory, and the media resulted in the 1980s U.S. satanism scare.) ISBN: 0813121701 Ellwood, R. (1999). The politics of myth: A study of C.G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. (Examines the similarities and differences of three important figures in the study of myth.) ISBN: 0791443051 (hardcover) or 079144306X (softcover) Emmons, R. A. (1999). The psychology of ultimate concerns: Motivation and spirituality in personality. Guilford. (Describes research and theory about how spirituality relates to personal goals and the things we strive for.) ISBN: 1572304561 Erikson, E. (1958). Young man Luther: A study in psychoanalysis and history. New York: W. W. Norton. (1993 reprint of one of the field's classics. Well worth reading!) ISBN: 0393310361 Faber, M. D. (1998). Synchronicity: C. G. Jung, psychoanalysis, and religion. Westport, CT: Praeger. (Faber argues against synchronicity and other Jungian ideas, in favor of a more scientific or rational view of the world.)ISBN: 0275963748 Fagnani, D., & Rossi, M. T. (1998). Simbolo, metafora, invocazione tra religione e psicoanalisi: Atti del VI Convegno Nazionale della Societa Italiana di Psicologia della Religione, Milano, 12-13 ottobre 1996 [Italian]. Bergamo, Italy: Moretti & Vitali. (Proceedings from the 1996 Conference of the Italian Society for the Psychology of Religion. Chapters focus on several intriguing aspects of symblism and related issues.) Fenn, R. K., & Capps, D. (Eds.) (1995). On losing the soul: Essays in the social psychology of religion. State University of New York Press. ISBN: 0791424944 Ferm, V. (ed.) (1937/1990). Religion in transition. New York: MacMillan. (This book gives fascinating glimpses into the personal religious stories of some of psychology's early investigators of religious phenomena: Starbuck, Leuba, Coe, and others. Well worth reading!) ISBN: 083690074X Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (1956). When prophecy fails. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (A classic study of how people may react when their religious beliefs are disconfirmed.) ASIN: 0061311324 Fowler, J. W. (1981). Stages of faith. San Francisco: Harper and Row. (Fowler's influential theory of how faith may change as the person develops. This was republished in 1995 in soft cover.) ISBN: 0060628669. See also ISBN: 0800617398 Frankl, V. (1962). Man's search for meaning. Boston: Beacon. (One of my favorite books. A fascinating account of Frankl's experience in a concentration camp. Reprinted in 1998) ISBN: 0671023373 Freud, S. (1928). The future of an illusion. Translated by W.D. Robson-Scott. New York: Liveright. (Reprinted 1989) ISBN: 0393008312 Freud, S. (1928). Totem and taboo: Resemblances between the psychic lives of savages and neurotics. NY: Dodd. ISBN: 0394701240 Freud, S. (1939). Moses and monotheism. London: The Hogarth Press and The Institute of Psychoanalysis. ISBN: 0394700147 Friedman, M. (1992). Religion and psychology: A dialogical approach. New York: Paragon House. (Psychology of religion from a religious perspective very heavily influenced by Martin Buber. Currently out of print.) Fromm, E. (1950). Psychoanalysis and religion. New Haven: Yale University. (An excellent, accessible examination of religion and psychoanalysis.) ISBN: 0300000898 Fromm, E. (1991). You shall be as Gods: A radical interpretation of the Old Testament and its tradition. New York: Holt. (This is a softcover reprinting of Fromm's 1966 work. Unfortunately, neither edition appears to be available.) ISBN: 0805016058 Fromm, E. H. (1995). Escape from freedom Henry Holt. ISBN: 0805031499 Fuller, A. R. (1994). Psychology & religion: Eight points of view (3rd ed.). Lanham, MD: Littlefield Adams. (An introduction to the people who have shaped the discipline.) ISBN: 0822630362 Galanter, M. (1999). Cults: Faith, healing and coercion (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford. (An overview of personal and social factors that influence people in new religious movements.) ISBN: 0195123700 Galanter, M. (1989). Cults and new religious movements: A report of the American Psychiatric Association. American Psychiatric Association. (Describes psychiatric views of involvement in new religious movements.) ISBN: 0890422125 Godin, Andre (1985). Psychological dynamics of religious experience. Religious Education Press. ISBN: 089135039X Golshani, M. (ed.) (1998). Can science dispense with religion? Tehran, Iran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies. (An interesting investigation of science-religion compatibility, notable for its inclusion of several Muslim perspectives as well as the more typical Christian and Jewish viewpoints.) ISBN 9644260813 Griffith, J. L., & Griffith, M. E. (2001). Encountering the sacred in psychotherapy: How to talk with people about their spiritual lives. New York: Guilford. ISBN: 1572307013 Grzymala-Moszczynska, H. (1992). Psychologia religii: Wybrane zagadnienia [Psychology of religion: Selected issues]. Krakow. (Highly recommended to me as a good introduction to the field written in Polish.) Grzymala-Moszczynska, H., & Beit-Hallahmi, B. (eds.) (1996). Religion, psychopathology and coping. Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi. (A summary of papers presented at a December 1990 conference in Mogilany, Poland.) ISBN: 9042001011 Guthrie, S. E. (1995). Faces in the clouds: A new theory of religion. Oxford University Press. (Guthrie tries to account for the pervasive nature of religious beliefs. A fascinating theory derived from anthropology, and from cognitive and evolutionary psychology.) ISBN: 0195098919 Hart, S. (2001). Cultural dilemmas of progressive politics (Morality and Society). Chicago: Univ. of Chicago. (Examines conservative and liberal uses of religion in politics, with the thesis that religion can be more effectively used by people interested in liberal social perspectives.) ISBN: 0226318184 Heller, D. (1986). The children's God. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago. (A very readable study on how children of different ages and religions characterize God.) ISBN: 0226326365 Heller, D., & Heller, E. (1996). Angels must get get their wings by helping little angles like me: Children's ideas of god, heaven and the angels. Kensington Pub. Corp. ISBN: 0821751565 Helminiak, D. A. (1998). Religion and the human sciences: An approach via spirituality. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. (An approach that builds on Wilber to combine Eastern and Western views.) ISBN: 0791438066 Heimbrock, H., & Boudewijnse, H. B. (eds.) (1990). Current studies on rituals: Perspectives for the psychology of religion. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Editions Rodopi. International Series in the Psychology of Religion, vol. 2. ISBN: 9051831781 Hermanson, J. (1997). The interplay of social science and personal belief in Gordon W. Allport's psychology of religion. Lund: Lund University Press. (Investigates one of the people who has had more of an impact on the field than any other individual.) Hexham,I., & Poewe, K. (1997). New religions as global cultures: Making the human sacred. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. (A thought-provoking examination of the "cult" and "anti-cult" movements, in many of their facets.) ISBN: 0813325080 Hill, P. C., & Hood, R. W. (Eds.). (1999). Measures of religiosity. Religious Education Pr; ISBN: 089135106X Hood, R. W. (Ed.). (1995). Handbook of religious experience. Birmingham, AL: Religious Education. (Especially recommended for its chapters on religious experience in different faith traditions, and for solid overviews of various psychological perspectives toward religious experience.) ISBN: 0891350942 Hood, R. W. Jr., Spilka, B., Hunsberger, B., & Gorsuch, R. (1996). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach. New York: Guilford. (The best available view of psychological research on religion.) ISBN: 1572301163 Howard, E. B. (2000). Affirming the touch of God: A psychological and philosophical exploration of Christian discernment. University Press of America. ISBN: 0761816895 Jacobs, J. L., & Capps, D. (eds.) (1997). Religion, society, and psychoanalysis: Readings in contemporary theory. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. (A variety of psychoanalytic perspectives on religion are represented here. Chapters range from Freud & Fundamentalism to Jacques Lacan.) ISBN: 0813326486 James, W. (1902/1985). The varieties of religious experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. (This is the foundational examination of religion by a psychologist. Although you can read my version online, I highly recommend that you obtain a copy for your own library.) Softcover: ISBN: 0684842971; Hardcover: ISBN 0940450380 Jamison, K. R. (1996). Touched with fire : Manic depressive illness and the artistic temperament. Free Press. (Promotes the view that manic depression is tied to spirituality and artistic creativity.) ISBN: 068483183X Jeeves, M. A. (1997). "Human Nature at the Millennium: Reflections on the integration of psychology and Christianity," Baker. (Religion and psychology from a protestant perspective.) ISBN: 0801021049 Jeeves, M. A., & Berry, R. J. (1999). Science, life, and Christian belief: A survey of contemporary issues. Baker Book House. ISBN: 0801022266 Jones, J. W. (1996). Religion and psychology in transition: Psychoanalysis, feminism, and theology. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN: 0300067690 Jones, J. W. (1991). Contemporary psychoanalysis and religion: Transference and transcendence. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press (1993 reprinted edition). ISBN: 0300057849 Jonte-Pace, D., & Parsons, W. B. (Eds.) (2000). Religion and psychology: Mapping the terrain. New York: Routledge. (Essays by many of the leading scholars in the field from empirical psychology, psychoanalysis & theology.) ISBN: 0415206189 Jones, J. W. (1991). Contemporary psychoanalysis and religion: Transference and transcendence. New Yaven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN: 0300049161 Jung, C. G. (1933). Modern man in search of a soul. New York: Harcourt Brace (1955 reprint). ISBN: 0156612062 Jung, C. G. (1958). Psychology of religion: West and east. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. (Second edition published 1970 by Routledge.) ISBN: 0691097720 Jung, C. G. (1962). Psychology and religion. Yale University Press. (1992 reprint) ISBN: 0300001371 Jung, C. G. (1962). Memories, dreams and reflections. New York: Pantheon. ISBN: 0679723951 Jung, C. G. (1992). Psychology and religion (Terry Lectures, 1937) (Reprinted). Yale Univ. Press ISBN: 0300001371 Jung, C. G. (1984). Psychology and western religion. Princeton Univ. Press (reprinted edition). ISBN: 0691018626 Kent, J. A. (1999). The psychological origins of the resurrection myth. Open Gate Press. (Presents the argument that the resurrection of Jesus was part of a general tendency of bereaved people to hallucinate an image of the person who has died.) ISBN: 1871871433 Kimble, M. A. (2001). Viktor Frankl's contribution to spirituality and aging. New York: Haworth. (An overview of logotherapy, conversations with Frankl, and other insights into his work.) ISBN: 0789011565 Kimura, R. (2002). Aum Shinrikyo: Japan's unholy sect. GreatUnpublished.com. (Glimpse into the efforts to stop religious terrorism in Japan.)ISBN: 1588987418 Koenig, H. G. (1999). The healing power of faith : Science explores medicine's last great frontier. Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0684852969 Koenig, H. G. (ed.) (1998). Handbook of religion and mental health. Orlando, FL: Academic. (An excellent reference book, with chapters from leading experts in psychiatry and psychology.) ISBN: 0124176453 Koenig, H. G. (1997). Is religion good for your health?: The effects of religion on physical and mental health. Binghamton, NY: Haworth. ISBN: 0789002299 Koenig, H. G. (1994). Aging and god : Spiritual pathways to mental health in Midlife and Later Years. Haworth Press. ISBN: 1560244240 Koenig, H. G., & Cohen, H. J. (2001). The link between religion and health: Psychoneuroimmunology and the faith factor. New York: Oxford. (Argues that religious involvement & belief impacts the immune system, which results in health benefits.) ISBN: 0195143604 Koenig, H. G., & Weaver, A. J. (1998). Pastoral care of older adults : creative pastoral care and counseling (Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling Series). Fortress Press. ISBN: 0800629647 van der Lans, J. M., & van Belzen, J. A. (1986). Current issues in the psychology of religion. Proceedings of the third symposium on the psychology of religion in Europe. Editions Rodopi; ISBN: 9062037855 Lawson, E. T., & McCauley, R. N. (1993). Rethinking religion: Connecting cognition and culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (A theory of ritual and its role in life. Written by a comparative religion scholar and a philosopher of science.) ISBN: 0521438063 Leuba, J. H. (1925). The psychology of religious mysticism. New York: Harcourt, Brace. ASIN: 0710073178 Leuba, J. H. (1978). The psychological origin and the nature of religion. Folcroft, Pa. : Folcroft Library Editions. ASIN: 0527566004 Leuba, J. H. (1975). Psychological study of religion : Its origin function and future. AMS Press (Reprinted edition). ISBN: 0404039693 Levin, J. S. (Ed.). (1994). Religion in aging and health: Theoretical foundations and methodological frontiers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Examines the impact of religion on older adults.) ISBN: 0803954395 Levine, M. (2000). The positive psychology of Buddhism and yoga: Paths to a mature happiness. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (Relates Buddhism and yoga to developments in Western psychology, with a focus on applications to daily living.) ISBN: 0805833498 Lewis, J., & Melton, J. G. (Eds.). (1994). Sex, slander, and salvation: Investigating the Family/Children of God. Stanford, CA: Center for Academic Publication. (Research and essays regarding The Family, the new religious movement that is the subject of investigation in the report on child abuse in The Family.) Loewenthal, K. M. (1995). Religion and mental health. London: Chapman & Hall. ISBN: 1565933567 Loewenthal, K. M. (2000). The psychology of religion: A short introduction. Oxford, England: Oneworld. (A concise introduction to the field.) ISBN: 1851682120 Malony, H. N. (Ed.). (1991). Psychology of religion: Personalities, problems, possibilities. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. (Recent research and thought by current leaders in the discipline.) Malony, H. N., & Spilka, B. (1991). Religion in psychodynamic perspective : The contributions of Paul W. Pruyser. Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN: 0195062345 Maslow, A. H. (1956/1993). The farther reaches of human nature. Arkana Press. ISBN: 0140194703 Maslow, A. H. (1976/1994). Religions, values and peak experiences. New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN: 0140194878 McCullough, M. E., Pargament, K. I., & Thoresen, C. (Eds.) (1999). Forgiveness. Guilford Press. [An overview of psychological research on factors relevant to forgiveness.]ISBN: 157230510X Meissner, W. W. (1984). Psychoanalysis and religious experience. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press (reprinted 1986). ISBN: 0300037511 Meissner, W. W. (1994). Ignatius of Loyola : The psychology of a saint. Yale Univ. Press. ISBN: 0300060793 Meissner, W. W. (1995). Thy kingdom come: Psychoanalytic perspectives on the messiah and the millennium. Theological Book Service. ISBN: 1556127502 Miller, W. R. (ed.) (1999). Integrating spirituality into treatment: Resources for practitioners. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (Suggestions for therapists who wish to address spirituality with their clients.) ISBN: 1557985812 Moberg, D. O. (Ed.). (2001). Aging and spirituality: Spiritual dimensions of aging theory, research, practice and policy. New York: Haworth. (Surveys the role of spirituality among the aging.) ISBN: 0789009390 Molendijk, A. L., & Pels, P. (Eds.). (1998). Religion in the making: The emergence of the sciences of religion. Leiden: Brill. (Includes an excellent chapter by David Wulff, describing the development of psychological studies of religion.) ISBN: 9004112391 Moosbrugger, H., Zwingmann, C., & Frank, D. (Eds.) (1996). Religiosität, Persönlichkeit und Verhalten. Beiträge zur Religionspsychologie (Religiosity, personality, and behavior. Contributions to psychology of religion). Münster: Waxmann Verlag. (An introduction to the empirical psychology of religion literature, written in German.) Müller, A. (1992). You shall be a blessing: Main traits of a religious humanism. San Francisco: Alfred Adler Institute of San Francisco. (An examination of the Adlerian perspective.) Myers, D., & Jeeves, M. (Eds.). (1987). Psychology through the eyes of faith. New York: Harper Collins. (Essays by two psychologists who also are Christian. Well worth reading.) ISBN: 0060655577 Newman, W. M., & Halvorson, P. L. (1999). Atlas of American religion: The denominatioall era, 1776-1990. Thousand Oaks, CA: Alta Mira Press. ISBN: 0761990577 Nielsen, S. L., Johnson, W. B., & Ellis, A. (2001). Counseling and psychotherapy with religious persons: A rational emotive behavior therapy approach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN: 0805828788 Oates, W. E. (1991). Behind the masks: Personality disorders in religious behavior. Westminster: John Knox Press. ISBN: 0664240283 Oser, Fritz K. and Reich, K. Helmut (Eds.), Eingebettet ins Menschsein: Beispiel Religion. Aktuelle psychologische Studien zur Entwicklung von Religiosität [Imbedded in humaneness: example religion. Topical psychological studies on the development of religiousness]. Lengerich (Germany): Pabst Scientific Publishers. (An examination of religious development written in German and edited by two of the world's experts in the field.) Oser, F. K., & Gmunder, P. (1991). Religious judgement : A developmental perspective. Religious Education Press. ISBN: 0891350810 Oser, F. K., & Scarlett, W. G. (Eds.). (1991). Religious development in childhood and adolescence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (Recent research and theory regarding young people's religious thought.) ISBN: 155542788X Palmer, M. (1997). Freud and Jung on religion. New York: Routledge. (Examines the ongoing Freud-Jung debate.) ISBN: 0415147476 Paloutzian, R. F. (1996). Invitation to psychology of religion. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (A fine introduction to the field. Greatly enjoyed by my students.) ISBN: 0205148409 Paolini, K., & Paolini, T. (1999). 400 years of imaginary friends: A journey into the world of adepts, masters, ascended masters, and their messengers. Livingston, MT: Paolini International. (An examination of the Church Universal and Triumphant from the perspective of former members.) ISBN: 0966621301 Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping: Theory, research, practice. New York: Guilford. (Pargament's fine integration of psychology, religion, theory & research is essential reading for people interested in how people use religion in coping with life's stresses.) ISBN: 1572302143 Pargament, K. I., Maton, K. I., & Hess, R. E. (1992). Religion and prevention in mental health : Research, vision, and action. Haworth Press. ISBN: 1560242264 Paranjpe, A. C., Ho, D. Y. F., & Rieber, R. W. (eds.) (1988). Asian contributions to psychology. New York: Praeger. (Several chapters describe psychological aspects of Eastern religious perspectives, particularly Buddhist and Hindu. Highly recommended for these chapters.) ISBN: 0275925242 Paranjpe, A. C. (1998). Self and identity in modern psychology and Indian Thought (Path in Psychology). Plenum. ISBN: 0306458446 Parkes, C. M., Laungani, P., & Young, B. (1997). Death and bereavement across cultures. London: Routledge. (Compares the rituals commonly associated with death in a wide variety of cultures and religions.) ISBN: 0415131375 Peterson, J. B. (1999). Maps of meaning: The architecture of belief. London: Routledge. (Attempts to integrate neuropsychology, cognitive science, Freud and Jung into a theory of religious belief and myth.) ISBN: 0415922224 Pitts, V. P. (1977). Concept development and the development of the God concept in the child: A bibliography. Character Research Press. ISBN: 0915744074 Plante, T. G., & Sherman, A. C. (2001). Faith and health: Psychological perspectives. New York: Guilford. (Integrates research on religious faith and physical and emotional well-being.) ISBN: 1572306823 Pratt, J. B. (1908). The religious consciousness: A psychological study. New York: Macmillan. Pruyser, P. W. (1968). A dynamic psychology of religion. New York: Harper and Row. ASIN: 006066701X Rabin, A. I. (1998). Psychological issues in biblical lore: Explorations in the old testament. New York: Springer. Illustrates personality and other psychological concepts with examples from the Old Testament.) ISBN: 0826112129 Rambo, L. R. (1993). Understanding religious conversion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. (An interesting examination of conversion.) ISBN: 0300065159 Randi, James (1991). The faith healers. Prometheus. (Describes how some ministers engaged in scams to defraud their followers.) ISBN: 0879755350 Randi, J. (1997). An encyclopedia of claims, frauds, and hoaxes of the occult and supernatural : James Randi's decidedly skeptical definitions of alternate realities. St. Martin's Press. ISBN: 0312151195 Rank, O. (1930/1998). Psychology and the soul. Johns Hopkins U. (A new translation of Rank's examination!) ISBN: 0801857392 Rector, L. J., & Sanataniello, W. (1998). Psychological perspectives and the religious quest. Essays in honor of Orlo Strunk Jr. University Press of America. ISBN: 0761812938 Reich. K. Helmut, Psychology of religion: What one needs to know (The Teacher's File). Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 33 (1), March 1998, 113-120. (Not a book, but an excellent resource for people interested in teaching psychology of religion.) Reich, K. H., Oser, F. W., & Scarlett, G. (Eds). 1999. Psychological Studies on Spiritual and Religious Development: Being Human: The Case of Religion, Vol. 2. Past Scientific Publishers: Lengerich (Germany). (A set of perspectives on religious development from several of the field's experts. Available for $15 (check, money order) from Past Scientific Publishers, Eichengrund 28, D-48525 Lengerich, Germany.) Reuben, J. R. (1996). Psychotherapy and Buddhism: Toward an integration. New York: Plenum. (An attempt to merge psychoanalysis with Buddhist thought.) ISBN: 0306454416 Richards, P. S., & Bergin, A. E. (eds.) (1999). Handbook of psychotherapy and religious diversity. American Psychological Association. (Focuses on the role of religion in psychotherapy, with chapters describing how individuals from various religious traditions tend to respond to issues such as abortion and euthanasia, and the role of guilt and shame in that tradition.) ISBN: 155798624X Rizzuto, A. (1998). Why did Freud reject God? A psychodynamic interpretation. Yale University Press. (An examination of Freud's childhood and family life, which concludes that it was impossible for him to believe in a benevolent God.) ISBN: 0300075251 Roof, W. C. (1999). Spiritual marketplace: Baby boomers and the remaking of American religion. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 0691016593 Schumaker, J. (Ed.). (1992). Religion and mental health. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0195069854 Shafranske, E. (ed.) (1996). Religion and the clinical practice of psychology. Washington DC: American Psychological Association. (A highly praised book aimed at clinicians and graduate students--essential reading for clinical and counseling psychologists.) ISBN: 1557983216 Shea, G. (2001). The immortal I (2nd ed.). Shelton Group: Oakbrook, IL. (An interesting work integrating diverse areas of psychology, Christianity, and philosophy.) http://www.theimmortali.com Shermer, M. (1997). Why people believe weird things: Psydoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time. New York: Freeman. (Michael Shermer, popular historian and publisher if Skeptic magazine, addresses doubt, belief, creationism, and the nature of science.) ISBN: 0716733870 Shorter, B. (1996). Susceptible to the sacred: The psychological experience of ritual. London: Routledge. (Applies Jungian psychology to explain sacred rituals and every-day life.) ISBN: 0415126207 de Silva, P. (2000). An introduction to Buddhist psychology. (Part of an increasing interest in the ways that Buddhism and psychology may enlighten one another.) ISBN: 0742508579 Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.) (2001). Handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford. (A thorough overview of psychology's contribution to understanding humanity's better qualities, rather than its deficiencies.) ISBN: 0195135334 Sobel, Z., & Beit-Hallahmi, B. (1991). Tradition, Innovation, Conflict : Jewishness and Judaism in Contemporary Israel. State Univ. of New York Press. ISBN: 0791405559 Spilka, B., & McIntosh, D. N. (Eds.) (1996). The psychology of religion: Theoretical approaches. Bounder, CO: Westview. (Features chapters on many of the theoretical perspectives influencing current psychological thought about religion. Especially recommended for people interested in psychological research on religion.) ISBN: 0813329477 Stern, E. M. (Ed.) (1985). Psychotherapy and the religiously committed patient. New York: Haworth. (A collection of articles devoted to various aspects of therapy with religious people, generally from the perspective that the therapist can use religious beliefs in order to increase mental health.) ISBN: 0866563962 Stewart, D., & Mickunes, A. (1990). Exploring phenomenology: A guide to the field and its literature. Athens, OH: Ohio U. Press. (An overview of the phenomenological perspective, which has some strong advocates in psychological studies of religion.) ISBN: 0821409611 Strommen, M. P., Brekke, M. L., Underwager, R. C., & Johnson, A. L. (1972). A study of generations. Minneapolis: Augsburg. (A study of religion in the lives of 5000 Lutherans.) ASIN: 080661207X Sullivan, J. P. (1998). On holy ground: The impact of psychotherapists' spirituality on their practice. University Press of America. (Examines how five respected therapists utilize spirituality in their clinical practices.) ISBN: 076181177X Swatos, W. L., & Kvisto, P. (eds.) (1998). Encyclopedia of religion and society. Altamira Press. (A superb resource on a wide range of social science and religion topics. Like any good, specialized encyclopedia, it is not inexpensive, but this is a superior reference work and well-worth the cost.) ISBN: 0761989560 Tart, C. W. (Ed.). (1975). Transpersonal psychologies. New York: Harper & Row. ASIN: 0062508563 Thomas, L. E., & Eisenhandler, S. A. (Eds.) (1998). Religion, belief, and spirituality in late life. New York: Springer. (A variety of methods are used to examine the role of religion in older adults.) ISBN: 0826112358 Vande Kemp, H. (1984). Psychology and theology in western thought 1672-1965: A historical and annotated bibliography. New York: Kraus International Publications. (Annotates 1000 books dealing with psychology and religion. No longer in print.) Wall, George B. (1995). Religious experience & religious belief. University Press of America . ISBN: 0819198331 Walsh, F. (1999). Spiritual resources in family therapy. Guilford. ISBN: 1572305088 Watts, F.N. & Williams, M. (1988). The psychology of religious knowing. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. (Now out of print, but well worth reading if you can locate a copy.) Werkhoven, H. N. (1998). The international guide to new age music. New York: Watson-Guptill. ISBN: 082307661X Wilber, K. (1979). No boundary: Eastern and Western approaches to personal growth. Boston: New Science Library. (An introduction to Wilber's blend of transpersonal psychology and Eastern religion.) ISBN: 0394748816 Wilber, K. (1993). The spectrum of consciousness. (2nd ed.) Wheaton, IL: Quest. (A more advanced examination of transpersonal psychology.) ISBN: 0835606953 Wilber, K. (1999). The marriage of sense and soul : Integrating science and religion. Broadway Books. ISBN: 0767903439 Witwicki, W. (1938). Le foix des eclaires. Paris: Alcan. (One of the earliest works from a Polish scholar in psychology and religion, this wasn't published in Poland until 1958.) Wong, P. T. P., & Fry, P. S. (eds.) (1998). The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications. Wahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (Research on the impact of existential questions on people's mental health.) ISBN: 0805825037 Worthington, E. L., Jr. (1999). Dimensions of forgiveness: Psychological research & theological perspectives. Templeton Foundation Press. (This book is part of the Templeton Foundation's attempt to place religion and science in a constructive dialogue.) ISBN: 189015122X Wulff, D. M. (1997). Psychology of religion: Classic and contemporary (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley. (A veritable encyclopedia of the psychology of religion; especially strong with representing the field's breadth. Originally written in English, the book is now available in Swedish and will soon be translated into Polish.) ISBN: 0471037060 This excellent book is available in translations: Polish: Wulff, D. M. (Psychologia religii. Translated by Pawel Socha, Przemyslaw Jablonski, and Malgorzata Sacha-Pieklo. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Szkolne I pedagogiczne, 1999. Swedish: Religionspsykologi (2 volumes). Translated by Barbro Bergling and Lars Nilsson. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1993. Zelitchek, A. (1996). Psychology of spirituality (Psikhologiya duhovnosti - Russian). Moscow: Moscow Transpersonal Institute. (An examination of spirituality from a Russian perspective. Dr. Zelitchek is now translating it into English.) Zock, H. (1990). A psychology of ultimate concern: Erik H. Erikson's contribution to the psychology of religion. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Editions Rodopi. International Series in the Psychology of Religion, vol. 1. ISBN: 9051831803 [back to top] Religion Books Here are a few of my favorite books about religion. Albom, M. (1997). Tuesdays with Morrie: An old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson. New York: Doubleday. (The most inspiring book I've read in years.) ISBN: 0385484518 Dalai Lama. (1995). The power of compassion. San Francisco: Harper Collins. (Good thoughts from a remarkable person. This book is out of print, but a good search of used book stores on the internet may reveal a copy. It is well worth the effort to find.) McMurrin, S. (1965). The theological foundations of the mormon religion. Salt Lake City: Univ. of Utah Press. (One of the best books ever written about Mormonism. Describes how this ostensibly conservative religion is actually liberal in some important ways.) Pelikan, J. (Editor) (1990). The world treasury of modern religious thought. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. (Contains classic essays and excerpts from great thinkers in religion, running the gamut from atheist to devout. Includes thoughts of James, Freud, and Jung.) Rinpoche, S. (P. Gaffney & A. Harvey, Eds.) (1993). The Tibetan book of living and dying. San Francisco: Harper Collins. (An interesting view of Tibetan Buddhism.) Ritchie, G. G., and Sherrill, E. (1978). Return from tomorrow. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell. (A classic in the "near death experience" literature.) Rohr, J. (Editor) (1988). Science & religion: Opposing viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhave Press. (Essays about science and religion, from such people as Galileo Galilei, Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, Stephen Jay Gould, and Isaac Asimov.) [back to top] Journals Psychology or Social Science Journals These journals are where you will find current research dealing with the psychology of religion. Browse through these at your local college or university library. Like any scientific research, these can contain some intimidating statistical techniques, or may otherwise be daunting. But whether you are searching for information for a term paper, or are looking for interesting reading, the journal articles are worth the effort. To the best of my knowledge, the information here is current. Information of this type, however, quickly becomes outdated. If you learn that information contained here is not current, please contact me so that I can update these listings. You also may wish to examine the tables of contents of journals, where I have provided the titles and names of authors of research published in several prominent journals in the field. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion Publisher: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. 350 Main Street Malden, MA 02148, USA OR 108 Cowley Road Oxford, OX4 JF International Journal for the Psychology of Religion Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 10 Industrial Avenue Mahwah, NJ 07430-2262 USA Editor: Raymond F. Paloutzian Department of Psychology Westmont College 955 La Paz Road Santa Barbara, CA 93108-1099 USA A list of their articles is found here. Review of Religious Research Publisher: Religious Research Association 108 Marist Hall Catholic University of America Washington, DC 20064 Editor: D. Paul Johnson Department of Sociology Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX 79409 Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion Publisher: JAI Press 55 Old Post Road, No. 2 Greenwich, CT 06836 Mental Health, Religion & Culture Publisher: Carfax Publishing Limited P.O. Box 25 Abbingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3UE United Kingdom or: Carfax Publishing Limited 875-81 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 USA Visit the Mental Health, Religion & Culture journal web page for more information, including instructions to authors and the editors' address. Journal of Muslim Mental Health Focused on basic research and its application to better serve Muslim communities. For questions, email the managing editor or view the website, www.muslimmentalhealth.com Psicologia della Religione - News Publisher: Societa Italiana di Psicologia della Religione Associazione Culturale senza Fini di Lucro Via G. Verdi 30, 21100 VARESE Italy If you speak Italian, this newsletter will keep you informed of the field's developments. Professor Mario Aletti is President of this organization, and can be reached at Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universita Catholica, Largo Gemelli, 20123 Milano, Italy. Their newsletter is now available on the internet. See their web page at http://www.psicologiadellareligione.it/sipr Psychology of Religion Newsletter of American Psychological Association Division 36 Publisher: American Psychological Association Division 36 750 First Street NE Washington, DC 20002-4242 Editor: Mark J. Krejci Department of Psychology Concordia College 901 8th St. S. Moorhead, MN 56562 USA Journal of Psychology and Theology Publisher: Rosemead School of Psychology Biola University 13800 Biola Avenue La Mirada, CA 90639-0001 Editor: Patricia L. Pike 13800 Biola Avenue La Mirada, CA 90639 Webpage link: http://www.biola.edu/admin/JPT/ Journal of Psychology and Judaism Publisher: Human Sciences Press 233 Spring Street New York, NY 10013-1578 Editor: Reuven P. Bulka 1747 Featherston Drive Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1H 6P4 Contemporary Jewry Editor: J. Alan Winter Contemporary Jewry Box 5302 Connecticut College New London, CT 06320 Journal of Religious Gerontology Publisher: Haworth Press 10 Alice Street Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 http://www.haworthpress.com Journal of Religion & Abuse Publisher: Haworth Press 10 Alice Street Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 http://www.haworthpress.com Journal of Consciousness Studies (May be of interest to people who focus on spirituality and mind-body questions.) Publisher: Imprint Academic PO Box No. 1 Thorverton, Exeter Ex5 5YX United Kingdom Editor: Jonathan Shear Dept. of Philosophy Virginia Commnowealth University Richmond, VA 23284-2025, USA email: jshear_delete_this_@cabell.vcu.edu Religion and American Culture Religion and American Culture is available at this web page. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions Nova Religio is available at this web page. Journal of Religion and Health Publisher: Springer, Inc. Attn: Dept. HRH 233 Spring Street New York, NY 10013-1578 Phone: 1-800-221-9369 1-800-221-9369 Editors: David Leeming, Ph.D. Blanton Peale Institute, 3 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science Publisher: Joint Publication Board of Zugon The Chicago Center for Religion and Science 1100 East Fifty-fifth Street Chicago, IL 60615-5199 OR: Blackwell Publishers 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK Journal of Psychology and Christianity Publisher: The Christian Association for Psychological Studies P.O. Box 310400 New Braunfels, TX 78131-0400 U.S.A. email: capsintl_delete_this_@compuvision.net phone: (210) 629-2277 (210) 629-2277 fax: (210) 629-2342 Information is available at the CAPS Web Page American Journal of Pastoral Counseling Publisher: The Haworth Pastoral Press 10 Alice Street Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA Editor: Richard Dayringer, ThD, Editor SIU School of Medicine P.O. Box 19230 Springfield, IL 62794-1113 email: rdayringer_delete_this_@siumed.edu Social Thought: Journal of Religion in the Social Services Publisher: The Haworth Pastoral Press 10 Alice Street Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA Editor: Joseph J. Sheilds The Catholic University of America National Catholic School of Social Service Washingotn, DC 20064 Journal of Ministry in Addiction and Recovery Publisher: The Haworth Pastoral Press 10 Alice Street Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA Marriage & Family: A Christian Journal Publisher: American Association of Christian Counselors 1821 Walden Office Square, Suite 111 Schaumburg, IL 60173 USA This journal and the AACC take an evangelical perspective. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion Journal of the Association of Management, Spirituality & Religion, an interest group of the Academy of Management. Ecopsychology Examines the psychological, spiritual, and therapeutic aspects of human-nature relationships. http://www.liebertpub.com/eco The Quarterly Journal of Fundamentals of Mental Health The organ of the Iranian Islamic Society for Mental Health Publisher: Office of the Journal of the Fundamentals of Mental Health Editor: Dr. S. A. Hosseini P.O. Box 91735-6135 Mashad, Islamic Republic of Iran Tel: 98-51-813075 Fax: 98-51-2228969 Published in Persian, with English abstracts Journal of Religion, Disability & Health Provides an interfaith, interdisciplinary forum that suports people with disabilities and their families through religious, spiritual, clinical, educational, and scientific perspectives. www.informaworld.com/WRDH [back to top] Religion Journals In most cases, these journals either come more from a religious studies perspective, or they are journals that have been recommended to me but which I have not personally examined. In some additional cases, I do not have complete publisher information available. The Scottish Journal of Religious Studies Publisher: Department of Religious Studies University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA United Kingdom The SJRS web page describes their editorial perspective and lists subscription information. Syzygy: Journal of Alternative Religion and Culture Publisher: Center for Academic Publication Stanford University Branch Box 5097 Stanford, CA 94309-5097 The Syzygy web page will give you an idea of the journal's offerings. Journal of Contemporary Religion Publisher: Carfax, Abingdon, Oxon. Journal of Empirical Theology Publisher: KOK Publishers, Kampen, Netherlands Religion Today: A Journal of Contemporary Religions Publisher: King's College, London: Centre for New Religious Movements Method and Theory in the Study of Religion Publisher: Centre for Religious Studies, University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Religion University of Toronto 123 St. George St. Toronto, Ontario M5S 2E8 Canada Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Publisher: International Institute for the Study of Religions Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion Editor: Dr. Clare A. Palmer School of Environmental Sciences Creek Road Deptford, London SE8 3BW England [back to top] Organizations Psychology and Religion There are several professional organizations that are concerned with religion and psychology. Here is a sampling: American Psychological Association Division 36 -- Psychology of Religion 750 First Street NE Washington, DC 20002-4242 U.S.A International Association for the Psychology of Religion IAPR Membership Application Form (pdf file) Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Division of Social Sciences Alfred University 1 Saxon Drive Alfred, NY 14802, U.S.A. Visit the SSSR homepage for more information about this fine interdisciplinary organization. Religious Research Association 108 Marist Hall Catholic University of America Washington, DC 20064 U.S.A. The Center for Aging, Religion and Spirituality Luther Seminary 2481 Como Avenue St. Paul, MN 55108 U.S.A. email: cars_delete_this_@luthersem.edu phone: (612) 641-3581 (612) 641-3581 ; or fax (612) 641-3425 Societa Italiana di Psicologia della Religione Associazione Culturale senza Fini di Lucro Via G. Verdi, 30, 21100 VARESE, Italy Tel. e Fax 0332 / 236161 Visit the SIPR webpage for news and resources on psychology and religion in Italy Centre for Psychology of Religion, at Catholic University of Louvain Dr Vassilis Saroglou Université catholique de Louvain Faculté de psychologie et des sciences de l'éducation, Place du Cardinal Mercier, 10 B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique Webpage for the Centre for Psychology of Religion, at Catholic University of Louvain Forum on Religion, Spirituality and Aging American Society on Aging 833 Market Street, Suite 511 San Francisco, CA 94103-1824 U.S.A. phone: (415) 974-9600 (415) 974-9600 ; or fax (415) 974-0300 Patrick Cullinane may answer questions about this organization Association for Transpersonal Psychology P.O. BOX 3049 Stanford, California 94309 phone: 650/327-2066 650/327-2066 Well-suited for psychologists who seek a very broad-minded view of psychology and of religion. Their website offers more details. Society for the Psychological Study of Jewish Issues This organization exists primarily on the internet. They encourage research on Jewish life, and sponsor activities at the APA convention. Visit their webpage to learn more details. Association for Spritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling ASERVIC A Division of the American Counseling Association 5999 Stevenson Avenue Alexandria,VA 22304-3300 1-800-347-6647 1-800-347-6647 Webpage: http://www.counseling.org/aservic/aservic_home.html International Association of Pastoral Counselors P.O. Box 140182 Dallas, Texas 75214 The IAPC webpage describes their work, including a journal, professional certification, and other activities. American Association for Pastoral Counselors 9504-A Lee Highway Fairfax, Virginia 22031-2303 (703) 385-6967 (703) 385-6967 info_delete_this_@aapc.org Christian Association for Psychological Studies P.O. Box 310400 New Braunfels, TX 78131-0400 U.S.A. email: capsintl_delete_this_@compuvision.net phone: (210) 629-2277 (210) 629-2277 fax: (210) 629-2342 Information is available at the CAPS Web Page, and at the CAPS West webpage. Association for Clinical Pastoral Education 1549 Clairmont Road, Suite 103 Decatur, GA 30033 U.S.A. Information is available at the ACPE web page American Association of Christian Counselors AACC Member Services P.O. Box 739 Forest, VA 24551 USA An association focusing on counseling from an evangelical Christian viewpoint. Christian Research Association Locked Bag 23 Kew, Victoria, 3101 Australia Tel.: 61-(3)-9816 9468 61-(3)-9816 9468 Dedicated to providing reliable data about Australians' religious beliefs and practices. Association for Spirituality and Mental Health Based in Ottawa, Canada, ASMH holds regular international conferences and other activities. Scholarly Organizations that Study Religious Movements These organizations tend to focus on religion from either a sociological or theological perspective, or they are a good source of information on new religious movements (commonly but incorrectly known as 'cults'). American Academy of Religion 1703 Clifton Road, N.E. Suite G5 Atlanta, GA 30329-4075 U.S.A. Association for the Sociology of Religion Room 108 Marist Hall Catholic University of America Washington, D.C. 20064 U.S.A. Association of World Academics for Religious Education 160 N. Fairview Ave., Suite D 282 Golita, CA 93117 U.S.A. Information Network Focus on Religious Movements London School of Economics Houghton St. London WC28 2AE England INFORM website Center for Studies on New Religions Via Juvarra 20-10122 Torino Italy Communal Studies Association University of Southern Indiana 8600 University Boulevard Evansville, IN 47712 U.S.A.

Variety

"The highest flights of charity, devotion, trust, patience, bravery to which the wings of human nature have spread themselves have been flown for religious ideals." 1: This is a study of the psychology of original religious experiences, not religious institutions. Religious geniuses have often shown nervous instability, such as George Fox or St Theresa. Medical materialism, sexual origins refuted. Perhaps the neurotic temperament is best to receive religious inspiration. 2: Religion is the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men, in relation to whatever they consider divine, which is always solemn. Christian saints callous to disease in a unique way. Religious men alone have self-will happily subjected to the divine. 3: The deities are known only in idea. Kant and Plato suggest that human consciousness has sense of reality beyond any of the "senses", for instance in religious hallucinations, such as feeling a 'presence'. Automatism seems common. 4 & 5: There are 'once-born' people for whom happiness and optimism come naturally, eg Walt Whitman. Comfortable 'healthy-midedness' has overtaken the old hell-fire theology in Christianity, and is strong in the 'Mind-cure movement' or 'New Thought'. Different religions suit different people. 6 & 7: Many feel that the 'sick soul' needs curing, eg Luther, Tolstoy. Buddhism and Christianity are religions of deliverance: man must die to an unreal life before he can be born into the real life. 8: Many punish themselves for feeling that the self is divided into an evil and unhealthy and the good and godly, eg Augustine . 9 & 10: Many religions hold to conversion, where a self, wrong inferior and unhappy, becomes unified, right superior and happy, in consequence of its firmer hold upon religious realities. Conversion may wane, but so too can love. 11, 12 & 13: Saintly people have an energy and hopefulness, sometimes in excess, but always instructive to the rest of us., eg, Loyola, St Theresa, General Booth. 14 & 15: New religious ideas are heresies, but they can become stifling orthodoxy. Devoutness can become fanaticism, purity can be obsessive, tenderness and charity can become willingness to accept evil, and asceticism lead to self-torture. 16 &17 Mystical experiences briefly grant hugely significant revelations, and leave the mystic feeling as if his own will were in abeyance. They are incapable of being expressed in words, but of immense importance to these who have them. Hindu 'yoga', Buddhism, Suffism and Christian 'orison' offer methods of achieving them. 18: Philosophy cannot prove any religion true, but it can show up obvious errors and might begin a science of religions. 19: Prayer cannot change the physical world directly, but it can bring comfort and security. Many people have seemingly genuine experience of being directed by the divine, even if they may come from the 'B-region' of their own minds. 20: Psychologically, religion can grant new zest to life and give assurance of safety and love. The warring gods and formulas cancel each other, but there is a certain uniformity in an uneasiness about the self and its salvation through faith. NB: Personally, I agree in principle with the Buddhistic doctrine of Karma. For practical life, the chance of salvation is enough.

FraserTrevor MSc Pandemedia Social Psychologist

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UDATED STAGE ONE, Escaping the Killer Shadow Self. This is an evolving long form of Stage one of the ten stages

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