'The Forces of the Soul and the Healing of the Soul': Explorations in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and the Gospel
Six Saturdays, September 19 - October 24
9:00am – 11:00am CDT (1500-1700 UK time)
Meets via Zoom
Cost: $150
Taught by David Field
This workshop is intended for pastors and laity alike and will meet via Zoom for 6 Saturdays from Sept. 19 - Oct. 24, 2026.
Time: 9 - 11 am CST (= 1500-1700 UK)
This online course will expound and illustrate the ways in which faithful Christian psychodynamic counseling / psychotherapy is inescapably Gospel-shaped and is wholly formed by and aligned with the economy of God.
By doing this, it will provide an introduction to Christian psychodynamic counseling and an enriching perspective on Christian discipleship.
Connecting with a well-known published work each week (deliberately selected from a variety of genres and by authors including C. S. Lewis, Leo Tolstoy, and John Climacus), we will give attention to themes such as ‘Prayer and the psyche’, ‘Defenses against God’, ‘Simplicity and attention’, and ‘Becoming as infants and human flourishing’.
In these ways the course will celebrate and explore the ways that faithful depth therapy sheds light on discipleship and the ways that the Gospel can – and must – frame, form, and animate effective counseling.
Week One: Orientation to Discipleship and Depth Therapy
- Malan’s Triangle of Conflict in the light of Scripture
Week Two: Simplicity and attention
- Twenty-Three Tales – Leo Tolstoy
Week Three: Defenses against God
- Till We Have Faces and The Great Divorce – C.S. Lewis
Week Four: Prayer and the psyche
- The Ladder of Divine Ascent – John of Sinai
Week Five: Becoming as infants and human flourishing
- Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, chapter 3: “Profile of Mental Functioning in Childhood” – Malberg, Speranza, & Fortunato
Week Six: The way of the cross
- The Gospel of Mark – God the Holy Spirit
The Forces of the Soul and the Healing of the Soul is aimed at
- pastors and others with responsibility for discipling and pastoral care who wish to learn about and learn from Christian psychodynamic counseling
- Christian counselors and psychotherapists practising in any modality who seek to see and practise their vocation in the full light of Scripture
- any Christians interested, for whatever reason, in the Gospel relationship between counseling and discipleship
If you would like to know more about the course before signing up, feel free to contact David Field by emailing him at David-Field-Theopolis@pm.me .
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Zoom link will be emailed to participants. Participants will also receive invite to Populi, our course management software, with information such as syllabus, recordings, class roster, etc.
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David Field, who has long been a friend of Theopolis, is a Christian counsellor / psychotherapist who lives and practises in Oxford, England. In the decades before establishing his practice in 2020, he served as a local church pastor, taught in seminaries in Nigeria and in London, UK, and worked in international executive search in global higher education. He has Masters degrees from Oxford (Theology) and Keele (Counselling and Psychotherapy) and a PhD from Cambridge in Puritan Theology.
Theopolis Institute admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies or scholarship programs.
*This requirement was added in July 2016. For those who entered the Certificate Program earlier than that date, the oral examination is voluntary.