Psychological Analysis of Religious Experience Disturbances: Problems with Dependence from Authority and God Image Distortions ¹³⁴⁸

Current article presents a continuation of work dedicated to the problem of religious experience distortions, with which psychotherapist encounters while working with clients who share religious views. The focus is on the phenomena of substitution, which is defined as such a distortion of religious experience, where the person per- ceives it for himself as normal, spiritually mature and healthy condition. The prob- lem of codependence in the context of believer’s religious life is discussed, as well as the problem of God image distortions. Types of occurrence and negative outcomes of such problems for spiritual life of Christian are analyzed. The main causes of the discussed phenomena are pointed out. Recommendations for therapeutic work with such problems are given. Some conclusions about the preparation of Christian psy- chologists that work with religious clients are made.

Keywords: religious experience distortions, phenomena of substitution, psychotherapy of believers, Christian psychologist, codependency, God image distortions

Column: Christian psychology and psychotherapy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2016240507

Funding. The research has been supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant № 15-06-10889 “Synergic-Phenomenological Approache in the Сonsulting Psychology”).