Eastern Orthodox psychotherapy

Domain VII · Transpersonal, psychedelic & altered states · Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos · 1986 · Nafpaktos, Greece

What it is

Orthodox psychotherapy is not a clinical psychotherapy. It is a pastoral-theological framework set out by an Eastern Orthodox bishop. In it, the Church's ascetic and sacramental life, as taught in the Philokalia and the hesychast ("stillness") tradition, is read as a "therapeutic science" for the…

Format

• This is a framework rather than a manualised therapy. It has no session count, no fixed format and no outcome measures. It is described as a lifelong path within the Church.
• Format.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• What it is. Orthodox psychotherapy is not a clinical psychotherapy. It is a pastoral-theological framework set out by an Eastern Orthodox bishop. In it, the Church's ascetic and sacramental life, as taught in the Philokalia and the hesychast ("stillness") tradition, is read as a "therapeutic science" for the soul. Vlachos uses "psyche" in the patristic sense of the spiritual element united with the body, not in the…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• depersonalisation or emotional numbing mistaken for stillness.
• see §5 on obedience, disclosures of abuse and the confessional seal.
• recurring escalation of practice in the run-up to manic or psychotic episodes.
• the therapist drifting into spiritual direction. Refer that back to the confessor.
• demonic or providential explanations of a psychiatric illness that delay treatment (see §5).

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.