How did psychotherapy and spirituality become intermingled fields? The convergence of the two can be traced to the World’s Parliament of Religions which convened in Chicago in September, 1893. The Parliament attracted a potpourri of speakers from all of the world’s religions-the largest selection ever assembled at one time. Over a three week period, 194 papers and sermons were presented. The World’s Parliament had a broad impact on spirituality and psychotherapy and was important, historically, in several ways. First, It gave birth to the academic field for the study of comparative religion. Second, the interfaith movement can trace its roots to the Parliament and it had a huge impact on the modern Christian ecumenical movement: seventy-eight percent of the speakers were Christians. Finally, it is important to look back and see how much has happened in the field of psychotherapy and faith since the East/West convergence in the late 1800s.

The Faculty of Five will examine psychotherapy and faith from different perspectives: historically, clinically and then from Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism.

To Register:
tel. 713.797.0600 ext. 109
or
please send check to:
Institute For Spirituality and Health
8100 Greenbriar, No. 220
Houston, TX 77054

Richard Seager, Ph.D. is the Bates and Benjamin Professor of Classical and Religious Studies at Hamilton College in New York. He received his B.A. in Modern History from the University of Wisconsin; all of his graduate studies (M.T.S., A.M. and Ph.D. - Comparative Religion and Religious Studies) were completed at Harvard. Dr. Seager’s specialty is the history of religion and culture in the United States and Modern Europe along with the method and interpretation in the study of religion. His books include Buddhism in America (1999), Encountering the Dharma (2006) and a revised edition of The World’s Parliament of Religions: East/West Encounter, Chicago 1893 (September 2009).

ORIENTALIZING ENCOUNTERS: HOW ASIAN PIONEERS HELPED TO SHAPE MODERN THERAPEUTICS
Discussions about faith and the therapeutic process proceed on many fronts today from empirical studies of the efficacy of prayer and meditation to the appeal to folk religion and healing in ethnic identity movements. Hinduism and Buddhism have been at the foundation of a rich and complex Asian stream in this discourse since the World’s Parliament of Religions of 1893, when both were formally introduced into the United States and the West. Orientalizing Encounters looks at the Parliament and some of the landmark developments in the therapeutic milieu that emerged from it with particular attention to dialogues about the self as they developed between East and West. Participants will learn about the historical process by which ideas of the self grounded in Asian religions became part of the American mainstream. Attention will also be paid to contemporary developments related to Asian faiths, therapy and understanding the self.

Samuel Karff, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, is a founding father and Associate Director of the John McGovern Center for Health, Humanities and the Human Spirit and is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School. Rabbi Karff is a graduate of Harvard and earned his Ph.D. from Hebrew Union College, the seminary which ordained him. He is the author of Permission to Believe: Finding the Faith in Troubled Times (2005).

JUDAISM AND PSYCHOTHERAPY: TENSIONS AND COMPLEMENTARITIES
Freud’s dismissive and condescending attitude toward religion is well known. Freud never disavowed his Jewishness and many of the leaders and practitioners of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy have been Jews. Many theorists and practitioners have learned much from the Master but have developed a more positive view of religion’s role in healing the human spirit. Rabbi Karff has framed his topic to address the complementarities and tensions between religion and psychotherapy from the Jewish perspective. Participants will have a better understanding of the distinctive and complementary relationship of Judaism and psychotherapy and why the healing power of one does not invalidate the healing role of the other.

A View from the Clinician

Jon Allen, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine and is also a Senior Staff Psychologist in The Menninger Clinic. Dr. Allen completed his undergraduate work at the University of Connecticut and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Rochester. He is the author of numerous professional articles and books; his most recent book is Mentalizing in Clinical Psychology (2008). He is also a jazz pianist and composer. Dr. Allen has an active psychotherapy practice and conducts diagnostic psychological testing, consultations and research.

MAKING ROOM FOR SPIRITUALITY IN MENTALIZING
“Mentalizing” is a technical term for our natural capacity to understand human behavior in relation to mental states, such as thoughts and feelings. As a form of awareness of self and others, mentalizing can be construed as mindfulness of mind. This presentation makes the case that mentalizing mindfully exemplifies ethical and spiritual qualities conducive to mental health and, ideally, flourishing. Participants will understand the overlap among mentalizing, mindfulness, and spirituality; in addition, participants will come to appreciate the complex role of mentalizing in the experience of relatedness to God.

A View from the Buddhist

Harvey Aronson, Ph.D. is a licensed therapist and Buddhist meditation teacher residing in Houston. Dr. Aronson is a global student of Tibetan Buddhism having studied with world-class teachers since 1973. He completed his undergraduate studies at Brooklyn College, received his M.S.W. from Boston University and Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Aronson is also a founding director of Dawn Mountain Center, a Tibetan temple, community center and research institute and is the author of Buddhist Practice on Western Ground (2004).

THERAVADA BUDDHIST MINDFULNESS: A RELIGIOUS PATH AND SPIRITUAL/ PSYCHOLOGICAL PRACTICE
Dr. Aronson will serve as an interlocutor between the world of faith and psychotherapy. Buddhist practice emphasizes gnosis or liberating wisdom as the core ingredient of the sacred and spiritual. In Buddhist practice there are specific trainings of mindfulness to cultivate attributes of mind that lead to liberating, sacred knowledge. Dr. Aronson will explore such attributes and begin the dialogue with Jon Allen on how some of these spiritual qualities, traditionally cultivated, are significant psychologically as well. Qualities to be explored will include clarity, freshness, richness and immediacy. A brief introductory mindfulness practice will be included. Participants will take away some understanding of the role of mindfulness in traditional Buddhist religious culture, experience a simple practice of mindfulness, learn how mindfulness is being used in the psychotherapeutic venue, and deal with questions for consideration concerning the spiritual qualities involved in the interplay between mindfulness and mentalizing.

A View from the Christian

Robert Hesse, Ph.D. is Co-founder/President of Contemplative Outreach Network, dedicated to Christian Contemplative Prayer in the Thomas Keating lineage. He is also on the Faculty at the Institute for Spirituality and Health (Houston) and is an Ordained Catholic Deacon and a Retreat Master. He is founder and President of HEI, an energy consulting company, a business that has taken him to over 60 countries. Dr. Hesse holds a B.Th. from the University of St. Thomas (Houston) a B.S. in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from St. Louis University.

CHRISTIAN CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONTEMPLATION EFFECTS
The frontiers of scientific study are in the areas of human consciousness and there is an interest in the contribution of Christian contemplation to the improvement of the human condition. Dr. Hesse will examine the evolution of Christian consciousness and the therapeutic nature of Christian contemplation to both the unloading of buried thoughts and the corresponding increase of peace within oneself and compassion toward others. He will include an explanation of, instruction in and actual practice of Centering Prayer. The discussion will end with proposals and challenges to the scientific community for research on relatively unstudied Christian contemplatives. Attendees will learn the basis of Christian consciousness and contemplation, experience the practice of Centering Prayer and better appreciate the need for scientific research.