Healing the Mind and the Soul

Christian author and speaker Dawn Eden recently interviewed on Fox News about her new book My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints . The book explores the effectiveness of grace and prayer to heal deep emotional wounds caused by sexual abuse, reminding that “the kingdom of God is not a matter of words but of power.”

Herself a Catholic and the victim of childhood sexual abuse, her interest in religion as a source of healing is becoming increasingly more common. The perceived long-standing polarity between clinical therapy and orthodox religious beliefs is becoming less of a stumbling block for patients, and many are eager to recover from emotionally traumatic experiences with the help of someone who shares their theological vision:

America has always accommodated a push and pull of secular and religious impulses. It may be that the rise in Christian counseling is “a way for religion to regain the role it lost to doctors and therapists” in the mid-20th century, says John Portmann, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. “After all, religion has always been about suffering.” But whether people are looking to overcome depression, relieve anxiety or address a family problem, they may prefer faith-based counseling simply because it’s in a language that fits them and their culture most snugly.

See Eden’s interview here .