Andreea Horoiță, a clinical psychologist who also teaches at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, told the hosts of the Hristocentric platform in an interview that religious practice can bring meaning where it is difficult to find and can effectively transform behaviours, thoughts and emotions.
The specialist stressed the vital importance of cooperation between mental health professionals and priests.
“I have often observed differences in recovery between people who use religious coping – prayer, the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Mysteries – and those who do not. Religious coping adds value, depth and meaning where meaning seems absent, and it changes behaviours, thoughts and emotions more effectively and more durably,” she said.
She added that people who maintain a religious life and practice are often able to help those around them in the process of mental healing.
For this reason, psychologist Andreea Horoiță considers collaboration between psychologists and priests to be “very important if we want a complete healing process and lasting beneficial effects”.
A necessary project
The Cluj-based psychologist also praised the Hristocentric project’s efforts to bring psychologists and clergy closer together.
The Hristocentric conference held in Cluj-Napoca “brought together more than 700 people who are saying the same thing: we want collaboration, we want to help people, to help ourselves and one another,” she said.
“The research carried out within the Hristocentric project deserves every congratulations. In this regard, I believe we can all thank Professor Adrian Oprea. One can only imagine the amount of effort required to initiate, complete and then present research of this kind on an international scale.”
“I was also pleasantly surprised by the impressive participation of the diaspora in this research. I truly felt the meaning of the word ‘community’ when I saw the large number of participants from abroad. It is encouraging to gather together around a shared idea without borders between us,” psychologist Andreea Horoiță added.
Photo: Hristocentric
