Models of Integration of Christian Worldview and Psychiatry

The chapter reviews the debate about the relationship between psychiatry and Christianity from a conceptual point of view. First, different approaches to the integration debate in the USA will be discussed. Then follows a brief analysis of the underlying epistemic and conceptual assumptions of the debate. A distinction will be introduced between different forms of knowing, especially between scientific and professional knowing. Then the focus will shift to the practical and societal context in which professional knowledge unfolds. I will introduce a normative practice approach (NPA) to psychiatry and highlight how this approach may give a new twist to the classical integration debate.