Psychology and Religion

a dialogue between science and transcendence

Abstract

This work aims to present the positioning of the psychology council system in relation to the secularism and religious practice of the Brazilian people, listing the stance of the psychology professional on matters concerning the patient's religiosity. In this way, based on the psychology code of ethics, it will be pointed out how these issues should be dealt with in the practice of psychotherapy. To understand the religious phenomenon from a scientific perspective, and how this phenomenon presents itself in the conception of each individual, we will take as an epistemological basis the analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), this approach seeks to understand the individual in its entirety, as in addition to biological, psychic and social issues, it points to the relevance of religious or spiritual conceptions in human beings. Although we present a perspective from analytical psychology, other aspects of psychology also offer relevant content to understand the individual's religious conception. Thus, when supported by an epistemological basis that supports their stance, the psychologist's role is to understand the subject as a whole, this includes religiosity and what it represents for the individual seeking help.