Which is Better: A Psychiatrist or a Witch Doctor?

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item focuses on psychology and is taken from USA Today.Psychologist William Dougherty, director of the marriage and family therapy program at the University of Minnesota says, “Our profession actually comes out of the shamanistic tradition, but to be financially viable, to make a living we had to hook it up to medicine and science.If we are really honest we acknowledge that what we do is attend to the soul.It’s soul work not science work.Dougherty points to functional networks of healers who can work together, referring clients to appropriate healing channels including therapy, meditation, diet, exercise, spirituality, family bonds and community engagement.”Somewhat contrary to Dougherty’s remarks, but quoted in the same article, Frank Farley, past president of the American Psychological Association notes that insurance companies only cover what he calls true and valid therapies.And then he remarks that we have very few proven, valid therapies.

Tom:

My guests are Martin and Deidre Bobgan and the topic, certainly our main article has been psychotherapy and Christianity, but we’re going to pick up with these ideas in our Religion in the News, in this case, Psychology in the News, this is a special for us, but also in our Q & A.So Martin and Deidre, one of the things I find fascinating about this, and many of our listeners who have been following the program for awhile, know that we have been dealing with occultism, shamanism in the church.This is—when you say that psychology is related to shamanism most people think oh, come on.But it’s true, isn’t it.

Martin:

Well one way to look at this is to think that instead of just starting out directly with shamanism, because a shaman of course, is the practitioner.We can think in terms of is psychology religion?And you know the name Thomas Szasz and Szasz has endorsed our work even though he is not a Christian.But he said an interesting thing in endorsing one of our books.He says, “Although I do not share the Bobgans particular religious views, I do share their conviction that the human relations we now call “psychotherapy” are in fact matters of religion and that we mislabel them as therapeutic at great risk to our spiritual well being.And I think he raises an important point here.It is a religion we are dealing with and it does risk those of us who are Christians—there is a risk of our Christianity when we take on this other religion.And in terms of shamanism, a shaman is this individual who learns certain rituals and practices and while I wouldn’t say that what a psychotherapist does is shamanic, at times it actually is because a psychotherapist takes in the Eastern traditions and other practices that he uses in his therapeutic approach.So they can function shamanically and they do function as shamans in that they’ve been given kind of this status in our society.

Tom:

Martin, let me give you another quote.E. Fuller Torrey, another research psychiatrist, he writes, “the techniques used by Western psychiatrists are with few exceptions on exactly the same scientific plane as the techniques used by witch doctors, which would be shamans.

Deidre:

That is exactly true, and I think another thing too, is the term “soul work.”Psychology, “psyche” = soul, “ology” = study of, and so we are dealing with the soul.We are dealing with that part of man that is not seen.That immaterial part and so we are dealing—when we are dealing with the soul, we are on religious ground; we are not in scientific areas at all.Because even what might be the most scientific or objective part of research into psychotherapy would be observing behavior and asking questions and getting—but you see all of this is subjective because a person is observing the behavior.His report is subjective.A person reporting his behavior or feelings—that is subjective.So everything is subjective there, so it cannot be science.And there’s another story about somebody in India, they did a study where they compared native healers and Western psychiatrists and when they had kind of equivalent groups being therapized and they evaluated the end results.Of course, this is still a subjective evaluation, but still they evaluated them and they found that they had equivalent results except that the witch doctors let their patients go earlier.

Tom:

Right and they didn’t charge quite as much.

Deidre:

And they didn’t charge as much, that’s right.

Tom:

Well there’s another quote—again I am quoting these people to reinforce the idea that again, this just isn’t your idea, or this isn’t a Christian bias, right?I want to quote psychologist Daniel Goldman, who was among the first to point out that Eastern philosophies seem to be making gradual headway in the West as psychologies, not as religions.So this is part of the deception here.I’m not saying that it’s always intended, but I think a lot of it is.We have basically Eastern metaphysical views coming into what is supposed to be science, but is really religion and now we have another religion coming into Christianity because this is being accepted.Don’t you agree?

Deidre:

Absolutely, that is exactly what’s happening.Thomas Szasz who is a psychiatrist who has taught at the University for years and is well known, written a lot of books, he sums it up this way: “It is not merely (he’s referring to psychotherapy and it’s underlying psychologies) a religion that pretends to be a science.It is actually a fake religion that seeks to destroy true religion.”

Tom:

That underscores our concern here.This fake religion has set up shop in the church, just as Tobiah the evil Ammonite in the Book of Nehemiah was given a chamber in the temple enabling him to go about his intention of destroying the Jews.Psychotherapy both secular and Christian (so-called), are doing the same in the evangelical church