Psyche and the Sacred - by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos (Paperback)

About the Book

Authentic cross-cultural approaches to mental health treatment are urgently needed to restore it to its rightful place as an effective healing modality. The reclaiming of epistemological pluralism that is grounded in the sacred provides a remedy for the modern impoverishment of psychology so that, in recognizing the fullness of what it means to be human, it can secure our true well-being.

Book Synopsis

For readers of transpersonal psychology and spiritual nonfiction, Psyche and the Sacred is a bold critique of modern mental health care that calls for a return to the soul-centered healing found in the world's wisdom traditions and religions.

What if the missing piece to robust mental health isn't more psychotherapy, but rather engaging the spirit and soul?

In Psyche and the Sacred, Samuel Bendeck Sotillos issues a powerful critique of modern psychology's narrow, materialist worldview and offers a bold, much-needed alternative: a return to the sacred foundations of the world's wisdom traditions. Drawing from cross-cultural "sciences of the soul," Sotillos argues that true mental health cannot be achieved through Western psychology's secular lens alone. Instead, he urges a re-grounding in metaphysical truth, an approach shared by spiritual traditions that see the human being as more than just mind and body.

This book is an unapologetic call to re-sacralize psychology and reclaim its spiritual roots. Sotillos offers a remedy to the soul-deep alienation afflicting modern individuals: an embrace of the transcendent, the sacred, and the timeless truths that point to the eternal nature of consciousness and the longer story of the human soul.

Sotillos doesn't merely critique the status quo; he offers an integrative vision of healing that honors the fullness of what it means to be human, backed by a deft weaving of research and storytelling from the world's wisdom traditions. Sotillos offers examples of the power of psychological healing when grounded in the tenets and methodologies of indigenous traditions as well as Abrahamic religions; in so doing, he establishes a wide tent for the spiritually curious. In these pages we find that being change agents in an unstable world first requires a deep return to our true nature--one connected to infinite consciousness and our innate divinity.

"Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is the only psychotherapist that I know of that works from a universal and timeless ontological orientation." - Wolfgang Smith, physicist and mathematician, author of Physics: A Science in Quest of an Ontology

"Finally a book from a psychotherapist willing to explore the indispensable link between mental health and spirituality. Bendeck Sotillos reminds us that the essence of our well-being depends, ultimately, on being grounded in holiness, or at least in our best personal effort to cultivate spiritual virtues. Modern psychology, in its complicated quest for sanity, has tried to reinvent the wheel, when all we need to do is restore the healing sap of the heavenly circle girding human life. The author offers profound insights about traditional ways in which we can be reconciled to the timeless essence of who we really are, without which no lasting cure is possible. In doing so, he exposes the nature of modern man's alienation from his immortal being--the root cause of all our anxiety, depression, and neuroses. To delve into this enlightening book is to rediscover the providential thread of Ariadne that leads us out of the labyrinth of ego estrangement towards the immortal source of human joy." - Mark Perry, professional translator, author of The Mystery of Individuality: Grandeur and Delusion of the Human Condition

"This illuminating book makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing quest to integrate mental health and spiritual well-being. Dr. Bendeck Sotillos proposes that this endeavor requires an understanding of how the human psyche is related to the Sacred. He supports this claim through a nuanced engagement with texts from an impressive array of spiritual and cultural traditions. In reminding us that 'we have forgotten how to be human, ' the author makes a compelling case for a robust 'science of the soul' that can help improve clinical mental health outcomes. Finally, this work is a rich boon for researchers because its remarkable scope and vision provide the crucial groundwork necessary for further advances in this increasingly important field." - Brian Spittles, PhD, Researcher for Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium

"Psyche and the Sacred is a very important and timely addition to the field of healing. In order to meaningfully heal, Man needs to console his heart, tend to his aching soul, and nurse his invisible wounds. I believe that becomes possible through an intimate connection with the 'Divine.' I highly recommend this book by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos to anyone looking beyond the medical model for solutions to human suffering." - Omar Reda, MD, board-certified psychiatrist, author of The Wounded Healer: The Pain and Joy of Caregiving

"In this remarkably insightful book, Samuel Bendeck Sotillos once again displays his expertise as a leading bridge-builder between psychology, spirituality, and world religions. He demonstrates how today's global mental health pandemic is due, in large part, to our loss of connection to the sacred and the failure of modern secular psychologies to remedy a problem that needs to be treated by incorporating spiritual principles and practices. Today's psychologies tend to be reductionist, unable or unwilling to acknowledge the transcendent nature of our personality, which is rooted in the divine. Fortunately, humanity's great spiritual traditions continue to offer us a sacred psychology--a 'science of the soul'--that has proved effective for thousands of years in leading to true self-awareness and healing. This is a prophetic and timely book that deserves to be read by all." - Bradley Malkovsky, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Theology, University of Notre Dame; former editor of the Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

"In Psyche and the Sacred, Samuel Bendeck Sotillos explains how contemporary 'mental' health practices have subverted metaphysical approaches to therapy that address the angst in our modern day souls. At the start of the last century, when psyche was conceived as soul, traditional therapies responded to the width of human experience. As the 'cognitive revolution' came into vogue in the late 1950s, cognitive science was infused into psychology theory and practice. Therapists were trained to be less exploratory and inclusive of the wider human experience. Symptom-based research is now the bedrock (evidence-base) of psychotherapy practice, and 'psyche' has been reduced to a mental and mind foci. Our timeless therapies steeped in sacred cosmologies have been reframed and demoted as merely 'alternative'; their value has been rendered unreliable by reductionistic protocols on health. No longer is there space and time to explore the existential and the profound. Bendeck Sotillos urges us to revitalize the soulful wisdom that affords a more holistic and balanced approach to addressing, honouring, and healing our maladies of the soul."

--Peg LeVine, Medical Anthropologist, Psychologist, Genocide Scholar, and Associate Professor (Psychiatry) at Monash University (Australia), author of Classic Morita Therapy: Consciousness, Zen, Justice and Trauma

Review Quotes

"Psyche and the Sacred is a very important and timely addition to the field of healing. In order to meaningfully heal, Man needs to console his heart, tend to his aching soul, and nurse his invisible wounds. I believe that becomes possible through an intimate connection with the 'Divine.' I highly recommend this book by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos to anyone looking beyond the medical model for solutions to human suffering."--

Praise for the author's previous work:

"A necessary and bracing critique of the assumptions and limitations of contemporary Western psychology, this generous volume is also a passionate call and learned guide towards a truer perspective that embraces man's spiritual nature."--Gabor Maté, M.D., and author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

"Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is the only psychotherapist that I know of that works from a universal and timeless ontological orientation."----Wolfgang Smith, Physicist, and Mathematician, author of Physics: A Science in Quest of an Ontology

About the Author

Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, PsyD, LMFT, LPCC, CCMHC, NCC, CPRP, CCTP, MHRS, is a practicing psychotherapist in California, who has worked for many years in the field of mental health and social services. His focus is on the intersection between psychology, culture, and spirituality. He is a member of the Task Force on Indigenous Psychology (Division 32 of the American Psychological Association), an advisor to the Institute of Traditional Psychology, on the scientific board of the Knowledge and Hope Foundation, and on the editorial board of a few journals. He has written four books and edited one. His most recent work is "The Quest For Who We Are: Modern Psychology and the Sacred" (2023). He has written over five dozen articles and one hundred book reviews in a wide range of journals.