The Clinical Christ

About the Book

"I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit." -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Dr. Charles Zeiders' writings stand as powerful contributions to the human spirit. In most of today's world the practice of modern psychology is severely handicapped by steadfastly separating body, mind, and spirit. His writings lift this veil of fear and misunderstanding by presenting a viable and effective alternative. Several years ago I was employed as a psychiatric nurse in a large Veteran's Administration hospital located in the Midwest. Group therapy sessions were scheduled each week with the intention of uncovering the underlying cause of the patients' mental problems. The clinical staff was instructed to discourage any discussions of spirituality during these gatherings because they presented an obstacle to recovery. It saddens me that I can recall very few lasting breakthroughs for those troubled souls. Dr. Zeiders refutes this form of therapy by demonstrating the beneficial effects of healthy spiritual experiences. He cites the copious amounts of scientific data that give strong arguments for the inclusion of spirituality in treatment plans. The Clinical Christ is a radical departure from today's demystified form of analytic psychiatry and psychology. The insights and examples gleaned from Dr. Zeiders' professional experience are sure to bring renewed hope to all who seek to discover true wholeness. I believe his writings will open the door to a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit in the mental health field.

About the Author

This lovely, compassionate book is also one of the best written books I have recently read from a Christian thinker. Dr. Zeiders avoids the typical anti-intellectual platitudes of the Christian right and the New Age movement. Instead, he presents spiritually reasoned arguements supported by his case studies and his own careful and extensive study of the psychology of forgiveness.

Although written primarily for Christian psychotherapists, this is a book that will benefit clinicians from many diffrent practices. This collection of essays marks the debut of a significant Christian thinker. Although Dr. Zeiders dispalys a mastery of psychological theory and psychotherapeutic technique, he is a much deeper thinker- one of those rare writers whose work influences many kinds of thinkers, writers, and poets.

In the future, this book will be mined by novelists, philosophers, theologians, criminologists, artists, poets and human beings suffering through the vicissitudes of everyday life for its spiritual insights into the human heart.

Dr. Zeiders will inevitably be compared with psychologists like M. Scott Peck, but he has more intellectual heft and literary flair- imagine a psychologist with the literary and spiritual depth of C.S. Lewis or G.K. Chesterton. He offers hope by the simple (though not easy) act of forgiveness for human beings who have sunk to spiritual and psychological dregs.

The Clinical Christ is a manifesto for Christian therapists seeking a complex, intellectual, and deeply spiritual framework for transfroming human pain to human hope.

Reviewer: P. D. "a fellow traveller" (university city)