Page 46 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 24

cess with their pa�ents and differen�al outco- logy of suffering, is mindful that his or her tre-
me” [of a treatment] (p.66). Freud (1937/1964)
warned of the poten�al for prac��oners to un-
consciously perpetrate interven�ons with pa�-
ents in order to experience repara�on of their
own hos�lity or guilt.
Psychoanaly�c training emphasizes a personal
training analysis that is integral to prepara�on
for the ethical and effec�ve prac�ce of psycho-
analy�c psychotherapy. Psychoanaly�c training
programs usually s�pulate 150-300 hours of
personal psychoanaly�c psychotherapy so that
a psychoanaly�c psychotherapist will be be�er
prepared to facilitate a therapeu�c process less
adulterated by the vicissitudes of his or her in-
ner world. Tragically, many psychotherapists’
training programs include li�le if any personal
psychotherapy. Surrendering to an extensive
personal psychotherapy is in itself a form of
suffering. The present authors believe that
when psychotherapists have dedicated them-
selves to doing their own work, they reduce
their risk of providing poten�ally harmful treat-
ments.
Conclusion
The way of the kingdom of God calls prac��o-
ners commi�ed to integra�on to an experien�-
al fellowship of sharing in the suffering of Jesus
with each pa�ent. A�unement to a theology of
suffering will o�en guide prac��oners to hum-
bly recognize the necessity within themselves
to do the work of their own personal psycho-
therapy. The prac��oner engaged in Judeo-
Chris�an integra�on who is a�uned to a theo-
46
atment can have harmful effects (e.g. poten�al-
ly harmful treatments, PHTs) that may intensify
and further ensconce the pa�ent in suffering.
Thinking therapeu�cally, the prac��oner who-
se therapeu�c sensibili�es are guided by a
theology of suffering and the psychotherapy
outcomes research cited above, recognizes that
the speediest path to a pa�ent’s symptom reli-
ef – in order to circumvent pa�ent and thera-
pist suffering - may not provide long-term be-
nefit to the pa�ent, and may in fact contribute
to the pa�ent’s ongoing suffering and despair.
“Cruel though it may sound, we must see to it
that the pa�ent’s suffering, to a degree that it
is somehow or other effec�ve, does not come
to an end prematurely” (Freud, 1910/1955, p.
162).
Thinking Chris�anly, we are called to deny our-
selves, take up our cross and follow Jesus:
To approach the cross with too much faith, to
stand in its shadow with certain confidence of
Easter light, is finally to confront no cross at
all, only the unrepentant echoes of our reli-
gious noise. Amid the crea�on which groans
for redemp�on, … [we] must stand as if befo-
re Easter: open to its inbreaking, but unassu-
ming of its preroga�ve. (Plank, K, 1994).
May God our Father give us the grace, may
Jesus the Son imbue us with His heart, and
may the Spirit of God, the Comforter, be al-
ways present as we endeavor to be ministers
of reconcilia�on.
References