Theological Reflections on the Practice of Clinical Psychiatry (audio)

Posted on October 5, 2022 by PLT Staff

In his presentation, Theological Reflections on the Practice of Clinical Psychiatry, Duke University theologian and clinical psychiatrist Warren Kinghorn discusses a spiritual approach to mental illness and the use of psychiatric medication. Kinghorn describes the increase in mental illness prevalence among college-aged people, as well as “common but perhaps misleading” notions held by medical practitioners about clinical anxiety: individualist anxiety, self-symptom dualism, self-body dualism, technicism, and the mechanization of the human being. From here, Kinghorn explores Christian affirmations of the capabilities of the human being and offers a take on psychiatric medicine informed by Thomas Aquinas.

Excerpt: “Thomas Aquinas would want to affirm that human beings are wayfarers, are those who are on a journey. This image of the wayfarer is central to human life, that humans are creatures of God, who are on their way to God… the most important question to ask when I’m coming along with somebody in my clinic is ‘what is needed right now, for the journey?’”

  • Audio Information
  • Date Recorded:September 7, 2022
  • Location Recorded:Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Audio File:Download File »
This audio is published by the Project on Lived Theology (PLT). For any questions related to its use, please contact PLT (https://www.livedtheology.org//contact/). Copy available for use subject to Creative Commons License CC-BY-NC-ND (Attribution required, Non-Commercial use, No Derivatives, 3.0, Unported).