Review
Moriarty and Hoffman have created A THOUGHTFUL BLEND OF THEORY, RESEARCH, AND CLINICAL APPLICATION IN THIS ONE-OF-A-KIND TEXT on people's images of God. . . . A comprehensive and cutting-edge review. . . . The chapters are well-organized and easy to compare with one another, and they contain case material to illuminate the principles being described. . . . A MUST-READ for those in the pastoral and helping professions, including therapists and spiritual directors. . . . Provides a wealth of ideas for future research. WHAT A RESOURCE! --
Julie Exline, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University WHAT A COMPILATION OF SEMINAL ESSAYS! I predict this volume will take its place among others such as the books by Richards, Bergin, and Shafranske published by the American Psychological Association that have established a firm basis for relating religion to psychotherapy. . . . PENETRATING. --
H.Newton Malony, M.Div, Ph.D., Senior Professor, Graduate School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena A MILESTONE IN THE LITERATURE ON EMOTIONAL CORRELATES OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. The authors are to be highly commended. . . . Provides a FASCINATING tour of the research and therapeutic implications regarding the many sided aspects of people's experience of God, from the psychodynamic to the existential-integrative, and from the neuroscientific to the multicultural. THERAPISTS AND COUNSELORS ALIKE WILL GREATLY BENEFIT from the clear and concrete structure of the book, where each of the chapters provides a very useful section on clinical theory and ends with a highly illuminating case. . . . I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TEXT for all those who are interested in the multifaceted challenges of personal and religious devotion. --
Kirk J. Schneider, PhD, psychologist, Part-time Faculty, Saybrook, Graduate School and the Existential-Humanistic Institute, Author, Rediscovery of Awe, Horror and the Holy and Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy THE MOST EFFECTIVE COMPENDIUM TO DATE of the widely diverse and highly important conversations on the formation of God-representations, and their modification in a wide range of psychotherapies. It begins with an excellent overview by the editors, followed by a highly useful review of the very diverse literature in the field, particularly marked by a scholarly, appreciative, and challenging assessment of the work of Anna Maria Rizzuto, the discussion's first and most formative contributor. The bibliographies for the 13 chapters are a real gift, allowing the reader to identify a canon endorsed by scholars who differ widely in theological and psychological starting points. When rational-emotive therapists, attachment theorists, and short-term psychodynamic therapists agree that a given paper is central to their shared concerns, you know it's important. Most of the authors agree that a change in client God-image is an appropriate goal and responsibility for much psychotherapy. This book contains a raft of methodologies for attempting that change. Particularly important new territory is explored by Noffke and Hall in their chapter on attachment theory and god-image, and by Garzon on neuroscientific therapy and the god-image. Important methodological, psychometric, and diversity issues are productively engaged. --
Brian Grant, PhD, Lois and Dale Bright Professor of Christian Ministries, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana
About the Author
Glendon L. Moriarty, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist and an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology and Counseling at Regent University, where he supervises doctoral level trainees, teaches, and conducts research on psychodynamic psychotherapy and the psychology of religion. Dr. Moriarty is the author of
Pastoral Care of Depression: Helping Clients Heal Their Emotional Experience of God. He has published articles, chapters, and presented on the integration of psychology and spirituality, the psychology of religion, and psychology and technology. the first agency in the country dedicated to helping people change their emotional experience of God. He was awarded multiple times for his contributions, receiving the Leadership Award, Fellowship Award, and being named among the Who's Who of Universities and Colleges. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Christian Association for Psychological Studies.
Louis Hoffman, PhD, is a faculty member at Saybrook University, and an adjunct faculty at the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is also co-director of the God Image Institute, co-director of the Depth Psychotherapy Institute, and on the editorial board of The Journal of Humanistic Psychology and PsycCRITIQUES: APA Review of Books. Dr. Hoffman is co-editor the books Existential Psychology East-West and Spirituality and Psychological Health. He has also authored and co-authored chapters for a number of books and journal articles on religious and spiritual issues in psychotherapy, existential-humanistic psychology, philosophical and historical issues in psychology, and LGBT issues in mental health.
