Does God Help?

In a world where God and religion appear integral to the individual's inner being and to the broader vista of society, the timidity of psychoanalysts in examining such issues has been striking. In Does God Help, edited by Salman Akhtar and Henri Parens, the topics of faith, mysticism, spirituality, and the human need for God are addressed head-on. A group of thoughtful, provocative, and clinically useful contributions are thus set forth. These contributions will truly stimulate and enrich the clinician and the theoretician! -- Newell Fischer, M.D., president-elect, The American Psychoanalytic Association
At long last there is a book that brings the issue of religious belief into the consulting room. Deliberately avoiding the one debate about whether or not God exists, the editors have marshaled papers that take seriously the fat that patients are affected by their religious convictions. Experts on Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam refract the clinical process through the prisms of these religions, and commentaries on their papers are offered by distinguished psychoanalysts who provide vigorous challenges and supplementary visions. Therapists will be informed by reading this book and will find their understanding of patients enriched. -- David M. Sachs, M.D., training and supervisory analyst, Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis