Freud's Converts

This work is an exploration of the relationship between psychotherapy and religion. Sigmund Freud and Carl Rogers were chosen for this exposition because both of them were seduced by the high status given to science. Both founders of psychotherapies, they left a legacy which is not that of scientists whom they claimed they were.

Both Freud and Rogers had a problematic relationship with religion, and this has had a lasting effect on the work and attitudes of their respective followers. In order to explore effectively this relationship, this work begins with a critical examination of the historical context in which both Freud and Rogers worked, and how in their determination to be scientists, both missed the importance of the religious.

It continues with an exploration of the effects of this legacy on the work of contemporary psychotherapists. The context in which their followers work relies on a relationship with the founder, which goes beyond that of science. In addition, each practitioner is influenced by socio-economic circumstances that are particular to them.

The resistance from psychotherapists to embrace religion has been complex, although, as it will be illustrated, today there are some who are acknowledging the importance of the spiritual.

Psychotherapists have traditionally been considered the custodians of the real, and their clients are the ones suffering from delusions. With respect to their attitudes to religion—not least the spiritual—the positions seem to be reversed.