EMCAPP-Newsletter 4 – 2025
Dear EMCAPP-Friends,
Welcome to our fourth EMCAPP-Newsletter with information, ideas, challenges, ...
Blessings, Werner May, https://www.emcapp.eu/
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The next issue of the eJournal
We are working on the next issue with this main topic: Suffering, Pain, Misery, Misfortune ... from a Christian Psychological Perspective in Theory and Practice.
Some examples of the contributions:
- Miguel Ángel Alcarria (Mexico/Spain): Suffering and Resignification: The Key to Resilience
- Marie and Lowell Hoffman (USA): A theology of suffering for a profession of sufferers
- Kelly O’Donnell and Michèle Lewis-O’Donnell (Switzerland/USA): A global perspective as Christian psychologists on understanding and alleviating "Suffering, Pain, Misery, Misfortune."
- Rodger Bufford and Kenneth Logan (USA): Repairing Moral Injury: Integrative Perspectives from Psychology and Christian Theology
We hope that we can publish this issue in early December.
Here you can read all former issues: https://emcapp.ignis.de
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Information
Please note the conference in Barcelona, May 15-17th 2026: “Integrating religion and spirituality into psychotherapy”
Organization: University Abat Oliba, Barcelona, Spain (with EMCAPP-Lecturers and a special EMCAPP-Meeting).
Here you can see the program: Presentation - II CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE ANTROPOLOGÍA CRISTIANA Y CIENCIAS DE LA SALUD MENTAL
These are the contributions by EMCAPP:
- Ulla Dahlen (Finland): Short Information about Emcapp
- Agnieszka Wojsz (Poland): 30 years: Association of Christian Psychologists in Poland
- Werner May (President of EMCAPP): "Humans as Relational Beings are also Part of Systems: A Short Insight in a Practical Approach."
- Ewa Kiliszek (University of Warsaw): "The Role of Identity Throughout Human Life."
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An Experiment: The first EMCAPP Think Tank, October 30th 2025
Yes, it was an experiment!
The topic of the Think Tank was: “Placebo effect and belief - differences and similarities?”
Akseli Mäkelä (Finland) and Werner May (Germany) were the discission team.
The two main speakers were first Matthias Schlagmüller (Germany) and then Eric Johnson (USA).
Matthias spoke about “Placebo from a Scientific Perspective” and Eric about “The Placebo Effect: Obstacle or Gift?”
Here only one sentence by Matthias I will not forget: “Time, empathy, clear routines, visible action (e.g., injection) as well as brand/price/white coat of the person, who is giving the placebo, will raise credibility and stronger expectation/effect.”
For example, researchers at the University of Salerno had 41 people test two mattresses, telling them that mattress A was "high-quality/expensive" and mattress B was "cheap". The result: On average, the supposedly more expensive mattress A was rated as significantly more comfortable than B – even though both mattresses were identical. The paper explicitly states that the mattresses were identical and only the expectations ("high-priced vs. cheap") were manipulated.
And a Christian interpretation by Eric: “The so-called “placebo effect” is simply the result of a natural human ability, endowed by God (and evolution), possessed by all mature humans, more or less, the exercise of which is an effect of God’s common or creation grace (Acts 14:17; Ja 1:17), that nonetheless, is to some degree within the control of humans (Php 2:12-13).
The “placebo effect” is a kind of faith natural to human beings. The Natural faith should not be interpreted as in competition with faith in Christ or divine activity. “On the contrary, God works through human faith.”
This Think Tank was an experiment and the result for me is, that we did not have enough time (duration 2-3 hours) to come to new conclusions for a Christian psychology.
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And finally: A spiritual inspiration
Christmas is coming soon: The Art of Giving
Giving gifts is not a luxury reserved for Christmas or a must for birthdays. Giving gifts is something essential and life-giving, something that makes us human.
God has created human beings in a way that they would pass on what they themselves had been given: their lives and everything they need to live.
Every gift involves giving away something of the most valuable thing we humans have, namely our time, time taken from our personal lives – when thinking about what to give, when buying or making the gift, and when presenting it.
Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher who died a few years ago, made the following provocative statement: “I give, therefore I am.”
Gifts give life to me and to others. Giving is a fundamental characteristic of our God; it connects and deepens relationships.
Click here and continue reading here this small contribution
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Blessings from https://www.emcapp.eu/
The European Movement for Christian Anthropology, Psychology and Psychotherapy