Page 110 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 14

Charles Zeiders
Comment to Charles Zeiders
is the TS Eli-
“The Personality System ot Lecturer for
Interaction Theory (PSI Humanities &
Spiritual Psy-

Theory) and Stress“ chology at Re-
formed Episco-
pal Seminary in
Metropolitan
Even leading-edge psychological theory will be- Philadelphia.
nefit from the perennial wisdom of the Christi- MA in Counseling and Human Relations,
an revelation. PH.D. in Psychology. Since 1997, Dr. Zei-
ders has maintained a lively psychology
The Personality System Interaction Theory (PSI practice, treated diverse populations, and
Theory) of Dr. Julius Kuhl represents a scientific consulted and lectured widely.
achievement in terms of a complete theory of
human nature. PSI Theory organizes subjective Dr. Zeiders latest book is Malignant Nar-
states and observable behavior with precision. cissism & Power: A Psychodynamic Ex-
PSI Theory unifies advances in behavioral, co- ploration of Madness & Leadership (Rout-
gnitive, developmental, and neuropsychological ledge 2020). Excerpts are available at www.
research. It can specify up to 100 constituents drzeiders.com.
of personality operations. PSI Theory describes
four mental macrosystems (extension memory, Former contribution in our eJournal by
Charles you can see her:
intention memory, object recognition, and in-
tuitive behavior control) together with models https://emcapp.ignis.de/5/#/214
that show how system interactions are modu-
lated by positive and negative affect to explain
experience and behavior (Kazén, & Quirin,
2018). The theory has opened new frontiers in
psychometric assessment, leadership research,
and psychotherapy optimization. Peer reviewed
journals demonstrate that PSI Theory is well- has something to offer in terms of mitigating
accepted and scientific. Rigorously so. the perniciousness of demand-related stress
and threat-related stress. Among the wisdom
But importantly, Kuhl contends that his PSI of the Old Testament is the phrase “Be still
Theory, based on neurobiological evidence, po- and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10), and
stulates that “at a psychological level, demand- in the New Testament, Jesus Christ himself
related stress limits the pursuit of specific goals, exhorted his stressed disciples to “Come away
whereas threat-related stress limits self-con- with me privately to a quiet place and get some
gruent choice of specific goals. Empirical evi- rest” (Mark 6:31). Both scriptural revelations
dence [shows these to represent]… two possible indicate that God intends to help the human
ways of losing volitional (“top-down”) control.” being during stress, and these scriptures in-
(Kuhl, p. 74) spired Christian mystics to regularly rest from
their stress by communing with the Holy Tri-
PSI Theory, in other words, offers new insight nity in subjective quiet. Such practices as the
into an old problem: stress. Stress threatens to Jesus Prayer, Contemplative Prayer, and Christ-
rob higher consciousness from wisely impac- consciousness interrupt the mad, sick, and sin-
ting behavior. Stress robs right reason from hu- ful stress responses that human beings make in
man responsiveness. It is here that Christianity the face of emergencies. I have no doubt that a

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