Over the course of the 20th century, as the field of psychology became canonized in American universities, it slowly but surely became more and more "objective" in its approach.  Psychology departments increasingly situated themselves in the Natural Sciences branch of academia, and as such, attempted to study the human psyche through objective, scientific means.  As a result, focus on such difficult to quantify areas such as the soul or spirituality lost favor.  The secularization of education and the rise of the scientific/atheistic worldview supported this development.

 

Today, in most universities, the study of the human soul seems to happen only in humanities classes--poetry, film, art, and literature.  Sadly, many great pioneering psychologists, like William James, Carl Jung, Rollo May and Abraham Maslow, are not covered in Psychology department curricula.

 

Contrary to the trend in academia, there has been a flourishing of interest in the realm of psychology and spirituality.  Yoga practice has spread like wildfire along with interest in Eastern spirituality.  Even Oprah has caught on to the trend, promoting thinkers such as Eckhart Tollee and Deepak Chopra.  There is good reason for this explosion of interest in spirituality.  Finding connection to something beyond oneself and finding a place in which one can confidently invest one's faith has grown increasingly difficult today.  This is due to of a number of factors:

• The rise to dominance of the scientific worldview

• The Western world's emphasis on individualism and individual freedom

• The Postmodern world's realization of the realitivity and constructed nature of all assertions

• The numerous examples of dubious morality and fradulence of many religious instutions and spiritual leaders/gurus

• Darwinian, Marxist, and Freudian critiques of the Judeo-Christian worldview

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Faced with difficulty finding connection to higher purpose, the postmodern individual is left alone, uprooted, and without direction.  An experience of malaise accompanies this condition, which can lead a person to seek out psychotherapy or alternative healing.  Unfortunately, such people are often prescribed anti-depressants or taught coping skills rather than helped to identify the root cause of their malaise.  To be truly helpful to such a client, the therapist must herself have grappled with questions of sprituality, faith, and finding meaning in a postmodern world.