FAMILY TREE HEALING : ARTICLES
by Robert T. Sears, S.J.
Interrupted Love: Healing Addiction through the
Hearts of Jesus and Mary Addiction attaches the desire for God to specific behaviors, things or people. Bill Wilson and AA was a breakthrough but also limited. Chris Prentiss’ and Arthur Janov showed that facing primal pain lies at the root of addictions, and the need for companionship and joy (Jim Wilder) to face that pain. Jesus, with Mary, carried our primal pain of abandonment on the cross with the resultant release of joy and community. The article concludes with suggestions for healing addictions. Published in The Journal of Christian Healing, Vol. 26, # 2, Fall/Winter, 2010.
Is There a
Scriptural Approach to Mental Health?
Scripture says little directly about
mental illness as we know it today. This article presents five stages
of faith development revealed in Scripture that lead to the image of
Christ and ultimately of God’s own triune love, the source and goal of
all healing. Modern therapies are related to God action in these
stages. This article was published in
The Journal of Christian
Healing, Vol.
24, # 1, Spring/Summer, 2008.
The Trauma of the
Broken Church: Healing Through Ecumenism
This talk deals with the suppressed
trauma of the brokenness of the Christian church which is now “taken for
granted” and largely untreated. Divisions between God’s people can be
traced to Adam and Eve and Israel’s history, but they persist through
Christians’ rejection of Judaism, in the Orthodox/Catholic schism, and
in the Protestant Reformation and consequent splintering of the church.
This article presents a short history of this fragmentation (into some
38,000 Christian denominations today), and the scandal it presents in
face of Jesus’ prayer “that they all may be one…that the world may
believe” (Jn 17:21). It concludes with a prayer of repentance for our
sins and those of our forebears and a prayer that all may cooperate with
Jesus’ prayer for unity. Published in
The Journal of Christian Healing,
Vol. 24, #2,
Fall/Winter, 2008.
A Theology of Joy and Healing
Joy is essential to healing, yet is often overlooked. This article explores the
foundation of Christian joy in God’s love and Jesus’ teaching of the beatitudes.
It was published in the Journal of Christian
Healing, Vol. 19, #2, Summer, 1997, pp. 3-19. 17 pp.
Healing and
Family Spiritual/Emotional Systems
This foundational article integrates a development theology of the Holy Spirit
with intergenerational family systems therapy of Murray Bowen and Ivan
Boszormenyi-Nagy. Originally published in Journal of Christian Healing,
Vol. 5, # 1 (1983), pp. 10-23. 14pp.
Model for
Spiritual Development
This is a shorter introduction to the five stages of spiritual development, with
three cases given to show their applicability. 9 pp., 377 KBB
Trinitarian
Love and Male-Female Community
The healed family expresses God’s triune love. That principle is then applied to
five areas: male headship, mutual subordination, separation, celibate
friendships, and growth within relationships. Originally published in
Journal of Christian Healing, Vol. 6,
#1 (1984), pp. 32-39. 8 pp.
Healing the
Gender Wars: A Scriptural View
This article traces male-female relations from Genesis to the New Testament to
show how competition is transformed to insightful collaboration. Each of the
five stages of development is experienced differently (mother, spouse, soul
mate, co-minister, God image) and calls for a different approach to healing. 15
pp.
Jung and
Christianity: An Interpersonal Perspective
This article correlates Jung’s view of shadow, anima/us and God-image that
emerge with individuation with what I have called “individuating faith” in light
of interpersonal Christian stages of development. Originally published in
Journal of Christian Healing, Vol. 12,
#2 (Summer, 1990), pp. 11-19. 9
pp.
Resurrection Spirituality and Healing the Earth
This article presents a theology of resurrection and its importance for earth
healing. It evaluates the “creation-centered approach” of Matthew Fox in light
of a “resurrection-centered approach,” and gives steps for prayer for healing
the earth. Paper given at the Conference of the North American Association of
Christianity and Ecology, 1987, later published in Review for Religious,
Vol. 49, # 2 (Mar./Apr. 1990), pp. 163-177. 10 pp.
A Christian
Approach to Discerning Spiritualities
Christian healing requires discernment. This article develops criteria for
discerning a Christian approach to healing and applies them to three common
approaches: Matthew Fox's Creation-Centered Spirituality, A Course in Miracles
and New Age Spirituality. Originally published in
Journal of Christian
Healing, Vol. 21, # 1 (Spring, 1999), pp. 15-34. 10 pp.
Trinitarian
Love as Ground of the Church
This article gives further theological underpinnings for Trinity as ground of
community. It presents four stages of spiritual development (later expanded to
five) and gives their grounding and theological implications for church
development. Originally published in Theological Studies, Vol. 37 (Dec.
1976), pp. 652-679, 27 pp.. With critique by Roger Haight, SJ and response by R.
Sears, SJ.
Resurrecting the Wounded Community
This article gives stages of community development related to Scott Peck’s four
stages and suggests how ACT (and similar communities) needs to move beyond
pseudo-community and chaos to acknowledge its shadow side and embrace its
different gifts. Originally published in Journal of Christian Healing,
Vol. 16, # 4 (Winter, 1994), pp. 3-15.
Theology and Energy Healing
This is a talk for an Association of Christian Therapists Post-Conference Circle
of Inquiry on Energy Healing, Oct, 2002. It considers evidence for several levels
of human energy fields from Barbara Brennan, Richard Gerber, MD and Ewert Cousins
and offers a Christian theological interpretation based on Sears’ stages of
spiritual development. 9 pp.