Preliminary Remarks Toward A Constructive Encounter Between St. Thomas and Clinical Psychology

Abstract

This article address the ways in which contemporary psychologists might usefully engage in a dialogue with Catholic philosophers and theologians influenced by the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. The specific point of common agreement and vision between these diverse approaches lies in the general notion that human action is directed toward an end which the individual judges to be good in some sense. Despite the considerable differences in foundational issues, both the clinical psychologist and Thomist are perhaps able to come to a constructive, common vision around the notion that all human action is directed toward the achievement of some good. The drama of human suffering and the desire to address such need through the efforts of clinical therapy mark a constant feature of contemporary life. Americans, Catholics included, are far more likely to turn to the rhetoric of psychology than theology for solutions to the problems of modern living. The church remains always at the service of humanity, yet it appears in many ways that humanity turns elsewhere, to its secular priests, the professional therapists, for guidance and advice on life’s most vexing problems. The accomplishments of the profession of psychology, especially within the counseling milieu, are in so many ways without question positive and compelling. There remains, nonetheless, the need to explore more fully how the profession might draw upon the theological wisdom of Catholicism and the moral tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. It is the aim of this paper to outline in a preliminary way some of the directions for a positive exchange between the contemporary aspects of clinical therapy and the moral tradition of Thomism. The task is as daunting as it is urgent for any exchange of ideas among Catholic philosophers or theologians and contemporary clinical psychologists will have to confront at the beginning a number of difficulties. Perhaps first among them is the difference in the meaning of terms.