It is well known how often psychiatric patients report religious experiences. These are especially frequent in schizophrenic and epileptic patients as the subject of their delusions. The question we pose is: are there differences between this kind of religious experiences and those we find in religious texts or in the mythological tradition?

First, I would like to thank Dr. Phillips for his generous words about the potential interest of my work. He speaks about the fact that it is "insightful" and thought-provoking ("it offers us much to think about"). In his comment Dr. Phillips reviews the main moments of the evolution of treatment by words in the Greek world and he focuses on Plato's Dialogue Charmides, whose analysis is the center of my article. He even quotes some parts of the dialogue, which (...) I mention too, although in a different translation. He rightfully underlines the moment in which Socrates tells Charmides: "And the soul... my dear friend, is cured by means of certain charms, and these charms consist of beautiful words. It is a result of... Read More. (shrink)

Abstract:Since Homeric times, psychotherapy has been an essential part of the medical act. Initially, the word of physicians had a magical character. Plato rationalizes this in many of his dialogues. In "Charmides," he dives deeper into this matter and proposes to apply it to every disease. Analysing this dialogue has fundamental consequences for psychotherapy: 1) Remedy and epodé (charm) must be applied in every doctor–patient relationship. 2) The body can only be healed if the soul is cured first by a (...) charm. Patients must "offer" their souls to the physician, which implies the need for confidence and the unavoidable asymmetry which characterize doctor–patient relationships. 3) The openness of the patient's soul to the physician and the physician's "beautiful speech" to the patient will enable the latter to reach the state of sophrosyne (temperance), the condition of the possibility of true health. In the discussion of the meaning of sophrosyne, Socrates questions every one of the disciples' propositions and concludes that the only thing one can be sure of is that sophrosyne is a way of searching for virtue (areté). Later, in Theaetetus, Plato adds another element: temperance is a homoiosis theó, that is, the assimilation of patient with God. With this, Plato seals the ethical character of psychotherapy forever. (shrink)

Dr. Otto Doerr-Zegers's article is so interesting and insightful that I have nothing critical to say about it. On the other hand, in finding Greek, mainly Platonic, origins for psychotherapy, he offers us much to think about. In this brief commentary I will attempt to draw out some of the implications of his analysis for contemporary psychotherapy.Doerr-Zegers's analysis begins with a reflection on Socrates' Maieutics, Socrates' invoking the midwife metaphor to convey his use of dialectics to bring (...) forth the ignorance of his interlocutor. Dörr recognizes that Maieutics is a kind of psychotherapy in that, like psychotherapy, it involves a "treatment by the word." He takes this verbal dimension of the treatment back... Read More. (shrink)

Nachdruck der Vorlesungsreihe aus dem Jahr 1916.