Practical spiritual counseling. (Featured Reviews).

Nicodemos, the Hagiorite, Saint (1989)

Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain: A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press. Paperback. (xiii + 241 pp.). $12.95. ISBN 0-8091-3038.

St. Nicodemos, a late eighteenth century biblical scholar and Kollyvade monk, was among the most influential Orthodox writers of the last two centuries. His writings comprise over two hundred works, the most famous of which are on the spiritual life.

St. Nicodemos' Handbook of Spiritual Counsel describes practical ways to counsel and facilitate psychological and spiritual growth. St. Nicodemus sees the counselor as an agent used to encourage and convince individuals to develop positive mental growth towards the establishment of a fully congruent spiritual self. This gradual and purposeful ascent involves a systematic method of moving from an unfulfilled pattern of reacting to environmental and mental sensory experiences to the acquisition and incorporation of a completely fulfilled spiritual nature.

Progressing from being controlled by disturbing irrational feelings, thoughts, and/or behaviors to living in perfect peace involves disciplined personal conditioning guided by trained, personally fulfilled, Spirit-governed practitioners. The steps towards the joy and peace of having the indwelling of Christ may start with doing what is "right" out of fear of God and hell. As growth continues doing what is "right" may be superceded by becoming a son or daughter of God (an inheritor of the kingdom), prior to attaining the perfection of bearing Christ within oneself. A person is not likely to move directly from fearing God and hell to bearing Christ within; understanding the progressive nature of such development is essential to the proper and successful implementation of spiritual counseling techniques.

In addition to understanding the progressive nature of growth, successful spiritual counseling requires an understanding of how individuals operate and function. The basic cause of psychological distress is the conflict between the impassioned manner of body-sensory functioning and the mind's cry for spiritual nourishment and rational understanding. The spiritual counselor encourages individuals to shift from irrational, sensory-based functioning to rational, spiritual functioning, and then use spiritual nourishment for continued growth.

Practically speaking, the spiritual counselor helps liberate persons from focusing on the physical by redirecting the attention towards enriching and protecting the mental-spiritual through the acquisition of quality habits. The mind is used to instruct and guide the physical, and to define what true pleasure is and isn't. The mind itself expands in doing the will of God, in practicing virtuous habits, and in contemplating and applying the Scriptures. The mind is delighted and perfected as it contemplates creation, the Incarnation, and the attributes of God.

The internal sensory defense for the mind is the imagination, the mediator between the external senses and the mind. This world of thoughts also must be guarded and controlled and not permitted to envision and remember inappropriate sensory events and experiences. The imagination has greater authority than the senses themselves. Rational, spiritual imagination is developed through elevated meditation where the prayer of the heart unites the mind with God, actively loving God and loving others, and cleansing the heart (the will) by cleansing the senses and the powers of the body.

A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel is a practical guide to facilitating spiritual growth.

WOOD, KEITH, PH.D., is currently the Center Director at the Central Fulton Community Mental Health Center at Grady Health System, and Assistant Professor at Emory University School of Medicine, as well as adjunct faculty of the Psychological Studies Institute, all in Atlanta, Georgia.