Author: Nun Siluana Vlad (“Saints Archangels Michael and Gabriel” Training and Counseling Center in Iași)
Keywords: soul, suffering, emotional issues, psychotherapy, counsel
Abstract:
The interview approaches the theme of man’s sufferance in general, the problems of young men in the post-modern age and, naturally, Mother Siluana shares some of her therapeutic experience. This therapeutic paper reveals the fact that any young man, any person needs healing. Comprehending and accepting the emotional and spiritual wounds is the first step towards real heeling. There is no doubt that healing comes from God and is realised by divine grace, on the other hand with no healing we cannot overcome sufferance and we cannot enjoy God’s gifts. Postmodern man is saturated with concepts and conceptions which are specific to secular psychological sciences, and are part of the reality of this world. TV and cinema present and impose models which become patterns of attitude and behaviour. Almost no one can try to comprehend and evaluate another person outside these patterns. Thus, one does not have access to a man’s heart using the traditional language of Christian Morals, which is regarded as out-of-date and inert moralism. One can use the help of secular sciences when treating the symptoms of a heart suffering from separation from God. Man asks for help for his sufferance and pain. Then, he finds out the spiritual and psychological causes of sufferance. He can see those who hurt him and can see himself in relation with them. He becomes capable to watch his “life story” and to realise what are his “royalty rates” and how necessary it is for the author to know God. Things become easier from here. He goes to church, he confesses his sins, prays, finds out the truth, enters a relationship with Him, learns about penitence and has no need to consider his passions as his “shadow”! Yet, we need our judgement, both us and those who come towards us, in order to choose from secular sciences what can be useful to us. Another aspect to be considered is the fact that very few people know that the commandment to forgive is soul healing. And very few people know what forgiveness is and how one can learn forgiveness from God and not from men. Few people know what repentance is and few live it permanently. Few know what sin is, having a juridical and simplistic view on it. And even fewer know that we cannot heal our soul without cleansing our heart and mind and how to achieve this in our time. We approach these issues in our counselling sessions as well and in our training courses.
(Interview taken by Nicușor Deciu and republished from Ortodoxia, New Series, IV (2012), issue 4, pp. 181-192)
Pages: 148-155