Psychotherapeutic Cultivation of a Capacity to Love: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Abstract

The psychological study of love is receiving growing attention today, and current research efforts are drawing on sociological, cultural, and biological orientations using varied theoretical lenses. While these studies rely on different vocabularies and heuristics, it is the current trend in the study of love to recognize the value of coordinating research findings to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of human love. There is also increasing motivation to interpret the sophisticated science of love in dialog with philosophy and theology to deepen an understanding of love. If one considers the person as a whole, it is not surprising that human love would have many complementary dimensions; for instance, biochemical, neurological, psychological, sociological, cultural, philosophical, and spiritual aspects. While the synthesis of various disciplines contributes to a richer understanding of love, the development of a unifying theory capable of accommodating the diverse body of research has yet to be developed. Given the early stages of a multidisciplinary approach to the study of love, it is the aim of this dissertation to explore the following considerations: 1) how Catholic anthropology supports increased synthesis of love research and theory; 2) how setting the empirical science in a broader philosophical context enhances the psychological study of love; and 3) how a synthesis of psychological and philosophical understandings of love informs clinical interventions designed to cultivate a capacity to love in psychotherapy