Remedy of the Physician of Souls -- Healing Depression via Evagrian Prayer
Dove Jih Lirng Jang, PhD candidate, student, Durham University
In Christianity, there existed a well-established tradition that Jesus Christ is the physician of souls. The Salvation of Christ concerns the well-being of humanity holistically and compassionately, including both the present and the future. My interdisciplinary engagement of Christian spiritual practices with medicine is based on this foundation. This presentation is twofold: one is to introduce the concept of “the physician of souls” via the prayer schema of Evagrius Ponticus, a fourth-century desert father, the father of Christian spirituality; the other is to discuss the results of the 3R pilot study, an innovatively designed prayer therapy for depression. Evagrian prayer comprises various prayer methods emphasize praying with perception in order to participate in the communion of the triune God. These prayer practices include distinguishing thoughts, developing spiritual senses, using psalmody to dialogue with God, and nurturing contemplative silence. The pilot study of the 3R meditative prayer program invited people with a history of depression to try out these spiritual practices in 8 weekly sessions which were structured around Evagrius’ treatment of eight difficult thoughts. By practicing Evagrian prayer to counteract these 8 difficult domains, a person may learn to evaluate and interpret things and themselves differently. Most participants of the pilot study have experienced therapeutic change through participating in God’s healing presence and experiencing God’s perspectives.
In Christianity, there existed a well-established tradition that Jesus Christ is the physician of souls. The Salvation of Christ concerns the well-being of humanity holistically and compassionately, including both the present and the future. My interdisciplinary engagement of Christian spiritual practices with medicine is based on this foundation. This presentation is twofold: one is to introduce the concept of “the physician of souls” via the prayer schema of Evagrius Ponticus, a fourth-century desert father, the father of Christian spirituality; the other is to discuss the results of the 3R pilot study, an innovatively designed prayer therapy for depression. Evagrian prayer comprises various prayer methods emphasize praying with perception in order to participate in the communion of the triune God. These prayer practices include distinguishing thoughts, developing spiritual senses, using psalmody to dialogue with God, and nurturing contemplative silence. The pilot study of the 3R meditative prayer program invited people with a history of depression to try out these spiritual practices in 8 weekly sessions which were structured around Evagrius’ treatment of eight difficult thoughts. By practicing Evagrian prayer to counteract these 8 difficult domains, a person may learn to evaluate and interpret things and themselves differently. Most participants of the pilot study have experienced therapeutic change through participating in God’s healing presence and experiencing God’s perspectives.