Latter-day Saint psychotherapists strive for the “cure of souls” through a melding of LDS theology with mainstream psychology. How and when did psychotherapeutic methodologies take hold within Mormonism, giving rise to professional organizations such as the Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP) and BYU’s Institute for Studies in Values and Human Behavior? Author Eric Swedin will discuss the rise to acceptance of LDS psychotherapy and the places it differs from mainstream psychotherapy, especially its rejection of “selfist” elements. How have LDS doctrines of family salvation, eternalism, and understanding of the “natural man” shaped the way LDS therapists counsel clients? How does LDS psychopathology differ from that of non-LDS persons? What roles have feminist dissent and LDS philosophies of sexuality played in defining the discipline?

Eric G. Swedin, Jake Zollinger