Hagiotherapy as a component method of psychotherapy

Overview

Hagiotherapy is one of the forms of bibliotherapy, which belongs among the disciplines that are based in psychiatry and psychology. The term bibliotherapy comes from the Greek words “biblos” (a book) and “therapia” (care). Bibliotherapy uses literature in treatment of people with mental illnesses or emotional issues. The aim of reading a book as a therapy is to influence positively the patient’s psychosomatic state. Reading also fosters the ability of imagination, creativity and critical thinking. Bibliotherapy in general uses any appropriate books. Hagiotherapy (the term is derived from the Greek words “hagios” – holy, sacred, and “therapia” – care, treatment) uses the texts of the Bible. Through the analysis of a Biblical text, its plot, moral conflict and the characters’ behaviour, the patient’s personal problems come gradually out. The Biblical texts include the timeless motifs of death, guilt, values and meaning, which are introduced here in images or symbols from the lives of people of the ancient times. That makes the Bible a suitable text for this purpose because it deals, among others, with similar themes as psychology: with human pain, joy, solitude, uncontrolled aggression, and death. In hagiotherapy the aim is to lead the clients themselves to find the solution to their problem, to realize their shortcomings and subsequently change their behaviour.

A hagiotherapy session is led as a group therapy and lasts two hours in average. After reading a story, the therapist invites the clients to give their opinions on the text, and to describe the feelings evoked by the story. Everybody is free to express their opinions, the therapist reacts to their answers and asks another questions to show them a possible different point of view concerning the given event or character. The basic questions of values, such as the question of good and evil, love and hate, revenge and forgiveness, illness and health, appear in the discussion. To create a friendly atmosphere, the clients sit in a circle, close to each other, and they call each other first names. Hagiotherapy session aims to bring the patients to understand the flaws they have made in their lives, to make them change their behaviour and to sparkle their interest in higher moral values.

Keywords:
hagiotherapy – bibliotherapy – psychotherapy – psychology – group session