The psychotherapeutic establishment has turned our country into a psychological society where individual emotional well-being is high on the agenda and there is a full cadre of psychological professionals to tell us how to live and how to solve problems. As Charles J. Sykes reports in his book A Nation of Victims: the Decay of the American Character:
The triumph of the therapeutic mentality reflected the general temper of the American personality, which insisted upon seeing the immemorial questions of life as problems that required solutions. The therapeutic culture provided both in abundance: the therapists transformed age-old human dilemmas into psychological problems and claimed that they (and they alone) had the treatment. (P. 43; bold added.)
Psychotherapy and its underlying psychologies have been one of the most effective and most far-reaching means of getting Christians to turn to the world, not only for problems of living, but for ways to live more satisfying lives.
As Christians follow the world of psychological diagnoses and psychological therapies they open themselves up to further deception, because they are inadvertently following the lie that God has not provided what they need through His Son, His Word, and His Holy Spirit.
As individuals focus more and more on themselves and their own happiness and well-being, they eagerly embrace a psychotherapeutic ethic that puts personal happiness and well-being at such a high level that self must be satisfied. They increase the power of the flesh, the old nature that is to be counted dead, and believe that they are getting better and better as they follow the wisdom of men rather than the pure, unpsychologized Word of God.
One result of the psychotherapeutic mindset empowering the flesh can be seen in “No-fault divorce,” where the pursuit of personal happiness and well-being surpasses the good of spouse and children. Such behavior is so sanctioned by this psychotherapeutic ethic that some individuals actually gain a sense of personal power and enhanced self-esteem. In other words, instead of feeling guilty, they feel empowered, exhilarated, and good about themselves. When one considers the research that indicates that Christians divorce at about the same rate as unbelievers, one has to conclude that another ethic has taken over, indeed another religion, a psychotherapeutic religion of the self and how it feels.
We are grateful that God has already given us His standard for how to live and His indwelling Holy Spirit to guide and enable us to walk pleasing in His sight. He has given so much—”all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) in the realm of the soul and spirit. Why, oh why, do those who call themselves Christians turn to these psychological professionals for what is simply fleshly talk therapy?
(PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter, November-December 2012, Vol. 20, No. 6)