CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26869, 23 October 1952, Page 7

CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Sir,—The correspondence on “Christian Psychology” will, I trust, be carried to a logical conclusion. There should be no controversy. The true psychologist must have walked through mental and physical suffering, and be able to say to those who need help, “I, too, have suffered through breaking the law.” And he must be able to tell of a sudden release, a mystical experience, an ease where there had been dis-ease, a joyous feeling in the midst of despair, a happy resignation to a condition which had kept him bound, etc. So wonderful, so marvellous, is the experience that he naturally sets out to find its meaning; and, if he diligently seeks, is’awakened to the fact that there is a mighty power in which we live and move and have our being, to whom we can appeal for help and receive it when there is true repentance.—Yours, etc., M. G. DAVIES. October 21, 1952.

Sir, —Everyone, other than students or the aged, should have to show, on demand, an employment card to justify their freedom in the community. Parttime work would do, if regular.* Idleness breeds crime and drunkenness. Better to lose a little freedom for the good of humanity, especially the abnormal, who are now given enough rope to hang themselves. There should be a new kind of institution, run by Christian psychologists, for those who refuse to co-operate. Like the Rev. C. L. Dobbs, I believe many psychologists make some Jekyll and Hyde characters worse, being deceived into thinking they are really quite nice, or putting the blame on the parents, which may be justified, but does not cure, making the patient more difficult for those footing the bill. They need treatment, but in a place away from normal people, who, as Mr A. A. McLachlan, S.M., correctly believes, are entitled to live free from fear.— Yours, etc., ROUND UP CITY LOAFERS. October 21, 1952.

Sir, —In The Press” this morning is a statement by a Christchurch doctor expressing his appreciation of the resolution passed by the Anglican Synod supporting “the best” modern psychological treatment. In the Synod debate it was stressed that support is not being given by that body to all those purporting to be psychotherapists but only to those qualified to practice. Several questions arise which should be answered in public. (a) Is your psychiatric commentator a member of the British Medical Association, and does he speak for the association? (b) Does this doctor personally treat all cases referred to him or does he refer a proportion to psychotherapists whose qualifications may not find support from the Anglican Synod, the association, or the Government through the Social Security Department? (c) Why must “Curious” be advised in private of the qualifications of certain psychotherapists and not answered-in public? —Yours, etc.. GUARDIAN. October 22. 1952.