originally published 7/1/1999

What happened to the creative tension that used to exist between psychiatry and Christianity? Psychiatrist Dan Blazer believes that several factors have led to a more subdued conversation, including the adoption of mainstream secular methods by Christian counselors who lack a robust theology of suffering. Another factor is the vast increase in the study of molecular medicine, which leads psychiatrists to reduce almost all suffering to molecular or genetic causes. Psychiatry needs to recover its practice of relying on wisdom and attentive listening to treat patients holistically, while Christians need to understand mental illness using solid theology (and to recognize that psychiatry has moved past Freud). Blazer’s book is Freud vs. God: How Psychiatry Lost Its Soul and Christianity Lost Its Mind. This interview was originally published on Volume 38 of the Journal.

11 minutes

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