Imago Dei Psychotherapy: A Catholic Conceptualization Hardcover – January 30, 2007

Psychology, it's degeneration from Catholicism and the path to return to human philosophy based in truth. The book has not been read in it's entirety before this review. Great book.

Dr. Dilsaver presents an excellent integration of perennial Catholic philosophy and moral theology with advances in psychology. When so many psychologists, even so-called Catholic psychologists, claim faith has no role in understanding human nature, Dilsaver boldly and convincingly shows how faith must necessarily be the very foundation of psychology in as much as the truth about HOW we should be is derived from WHAT we are: the Imago Dei.Imago Dei Psychotherapy, or IDP, is a truly novel form of psychotherapy, yet despite its novelty in respect to Catholic psychology, it abounds in the richness of ancient wisdom recaptured and restored in a systematic clinical form that has been sorely lacking to those who see no need to pit faith against reason in the quest for mental health.Dr. Dilsaver also gives an insiders view of the sad surrender by many Catholic psychologists to the momentum of modernist thought. Many in the "modern" world disdain dogma as some sort of chain that binds their freedom. What they don't seem to realize is the dogmatism of their own position that reference to faith invalidates academic or scientific discourse. Dogmatism can indeed be a chain to freedom if it is a dogma of error, and this is exactly what modernism is: the false dogma that faith and reason are inherently exclusive of each other and that the totality of Man's being can be reduced to empirical data. Such a dogma imprisons the intellect and will because it severs Man from the source of his power to be fulfilled: the grace of God that enlightens our intellect and empowers our will, enabling us to once again manifest God's image.If you are a Christian and would like to utilize or become familiar with a form of psychotherapy that incorporates the fullness of the Christian tradition, Imago Dei Psychotherapy is for you. If you are not a Christian or do not believe in God, IDP is still your answer as its clinical approach is in complete harmony with and corresponds to the nature of man as a rational, volitional being. Your life is not bound by deterministic forces, but possesses a radical possibility of freedom if you are only willing to grapple with existence as it is.

Excellent work for anyone interested in genuine healing of mental illness....Dr. Dilsaver goes deep, getting to the root of things & challenging patients to lives of virtue and transformation, rather than giving them techniques that don't transform them at the core, and ultimately keep them imprisoned in their illnesses. Dr. Dilsaver has tremendous respect and hope for suffering individuals and is courageous enough to challenge them to conquer their illness by human virtue....almost unheard of this day in age! Highly recommeded for both those suffering and also for professionals. This book is revolutionary!

Absolutely Excellent. Insightful, well written, compelling theory of the human person. Any attempt to summarize wouldn't do it justice. I highly recommend reading.

I think this book should be a mandatory read for anyone interested in psychology, whether Catholic or non-Catholic. Seriously, it is that good! I took several college courses in psychology, but never did I understand how to integrate what I learned there with my Catholic faith. If you are looking for a book that can bring yourself or others to a greater state of mental health and yet not interfere with one's Christian faith, then definitely this is a book for you.Just reading it, I gained a better understanding of myself and how to gain a clearer view of life that can be immediately put into practice. The principles presented in this book make sense and they 'really work' to bring healing where it is needed. I have read many other books on mental health but none have brought as much clarity as this book; this is probably because it is written very Thomistic (it is groundbreaking)!Writing from Texas,Michael.

Ordered this years ago through Catholic University. Dr Dilsaver gets to the fundamental core of how psychology needs to be studied and practiced. Modern day “psychology” is no more than the coaching a therapant to express their self-aggrandizing egoistic subjective point of view for their own pleasure and as a coping mechanism so as not to have to deal with the vicissitudes of life. Dr Dilsaver’s later book “Psychomoralitics” goes deeper yet into living a more fully human life. I strongly recommend both.

This book has been life-changing. I have always felt the disconnect between secular psychology and a Catholic anthropology. This book not only articulated my confusion and concerns but answered all my questions! Totally enlightening and fascinating. I would recommend it to all, but especially other Catholics who want to breach the gap between the perennial understanding of the human person and the "science" of psychology.

An eyebrow-raiser for those interested in psychiatry mixed with theology. Must-read for intellectuals. Very interesting read to enhance one's vocabulary and knowledge of the study of God and modern psychiatry that challenges present views on big pharma, bureaucrats and modern treatments for mental illnesses. I'm still reading it.

Ich bin eine Psychologin, und daneben ist meine Hauptinteresse die Theologie, damit ich mich ernst beschäftige. So habe ich dieses Buch mit großen Hoffnungen bestellt. Es war aber eine sehr große Enttäuschung. Der Autor behauptet, dass er (und auschließlich er!) die echte tomistische Auffassung der Psychotherapie darstellt. Um der Psychologie einen tomistischen Grund zu geben, schreibt er mehrere Dutzende Seiten über solche Begriffe von Thomas, die in diesem Bereich sehr wenige Rolle spielen, aber spricht gar nicht über die Gnadelehre, die Grund jeder katholischen Pschychologie darstellen muss. Danach bringt er seine Theorie über psychische Gesund und Krankheit, wo wir erlernen, dass der Grund der Psychosen der böshaftige Will ist. Kein Problem dass diese Behauptung der ganzen Theorie und Praxis der Psychologie und Psychiatrie gegenübersteht! Danach überrascht es man schon gar nicht, wenn man liest, dass das wichtigste Mittel der Therapie ist die Demütigung (!) der Patienten, um seine/ihre volle Abhängigkeit von Gott zu erkennen – und dadurch werden sich alle psychische Probleme ohne irgendwelche andere Bemühung lösen. Es ist Schande, dass ein solches Buch als katholische Psychologie herauskommen konnte.