Religious and Ethical Resources for Psychotherapy of Emotional States : In Light of Spinoza's Ethica(<Special Issue>Religion and Ethics)

Abstract

In this paper the author tries to investigate the religious and ethical resources of psychotherapy. Humans are dual beings, balancing a conflict of relationships between the natural biological being and the social cultural being. It is a habitual stance in the practice of psychotherapy that the therapist and client maintain a face-to-face interview. Yet the basis for how the conversation can be supportive of a client's self regulation of negative emotion in the interview situation is not clear. In this paper the author refers to the text of Spinoza's Ethics, which proposes basic principles of psychotherapy for emotional states. When one forms clear and suitable concepts into his/her emotional states, he/she can make self regulation easier. He/She can recover his/her agency transformed from a passive being. This is a therapeutic moment. Spinoza defines human emotion in terms of the transformation of body sensation that is "affectus." Spinoza's concept of "conatus" connected human reason that guides us with fruitful ideas in therapeutic practice through which one's self recognition will be deepened. The "Other's" dialogical response is quite necessary because it can define the limit of "conatus," and it can realize the realistic power of "conatus."