The twice-born: 'Christian psychiatry' and Christian psychiatrists

This essay introduces Christian psychiatrists into the growing literature on Western psychiatry and biomedicine. It seeks to describe specific beliefs and practices of Christian psychiatrists as a means of examining the reality of an ascribed corporate existence, i.e., 'Christian Psychiatry'. Beliefs and practices examined here include conceptions of therapeutic relationships and processes, conceptions of Divinity, Explanatory Models, notions of the nature and sources of healing, self identity, and role relationships of Christian psychiatrists vis-à-vis patients and the wider society. The data suggest that there is no 'Christian Psychiatry', but only Christian psychiatrists. Implications for patient care and the cultural basis of ideology and practice in psychiatry are also discussed.