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Initially, psychoanalysis seemed so intrigued by its own discoveries about the nature of man that it appeared scarcely aware that some of its observations and techniques might have been used in other times and places. But in recent years, particularly with the growing popularity of eastern and non-rational religious and philosophical systems, there has been an increased interest in differing views of human nature and alternative routes to psychic healing, and a broadening receptivity to what these approaches might have to offer.
Mystics and Medics, edited by Reuven Bulka, is a contribution to this expanding literature of inquiry and comparison, although the title, implying as it does a broad evaluation of mystical and therapeutic trends, is somewhat misleading. In fact, this slim volume of essays, originally published as a special number of the journal of Psychology and Judaism, deals exclusively with the Hasidic tradition, addressing itself to the question of commonalities between the rebbe-Hasid encounter and the current psychotherapeutic relationship.
Three of the essays in the series approach the subject from an essentially academic point of view, highlighting parallelisms and contrasts between Hasidism and psychotherapy. In Safier's paper there is an investigation of paradox as a therapeutic tool and a discussion of the uses to which it was put by Hasidic masters and some contemporary psychotherapists. Bulka, from a somewhat different perspective, makes a point-for-point comparison with Frankl's logotherapy, juxtaposing epigrammatic statements from each to illustrate his thesis that they share a common philosophical base with regard to such basic concerns as free will, love, the place of work and material gain, and so forth. Spero, in what is probably the best articulated of these three papers, assesses general psychology, psychoanalysis, and the “l-Thou” encounter in relation to Hasidism, emphasizing particularly the quality of the human relationship in each and