Factors and predictors of seeking psychological help from religious organizations
Abstract
The article describes the impact of different components on seeking for mental help from agents of official religions. Among the components considered were conviction in enchantment, soothsaying, involvement of seeking for mental help from agents of conventional psychotherapy, the state of mind of familiar people towards treatment, and socio-demographic components. The hypothetical premise of the work is the multicomponent show of cognitive constellation theory and R. Collins’ hypothesis of the numerous faces of Christianity. The research object is inhabitants of St. Petersburg, the subject of the research is the variables affecting their looking for seeking for mental help from agents of official religions. The sample comprised of 1200 respondents, representative for St. Petersburg in sex and age. The purpose of the study was to establish how belief in magic, astrology, experience of seeking psychological help from representatives of traditional psychotherapy, the attitude of acquaintances towards therapy, and socio-demographic factors influencing the fact of seeking psychological help from representatives of official religions. Data obtained from the questionnaire survey were analyzed using at least squares regression model. The dependent variable was the rank scale of seeking psychological help from religious organizations. According to the results, one can note the relationship between positive experience of contacting psychotherapists and the tendency to turn to religious organizations. The findings have renewed the debate about the religious or mystical nature of psychotherapy. Our results do not affect the scientific/parascientific nature of the very foundations of psychotherapy, but they reveal a connection about public perceptions of this issue. The nature of the connection in the minds of Russians between psychotherapy and religious practices is seen by the authors as a direction for further research. Also, the results obtained can serve as recommendations for the development of psychotherapeutic programs and methods that take into account the factor of religiosity in work.
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