Spiritual Struggles, III: Divine & Ultimate Meaning Struggles in Ingmar Bergman’s 'The Seventh Seal'

Описание: SUMMARY: This seminar is the third of a three-part series illustrating in film the spiritual struggles described by Ken Pargament and Julie Exline in their 2022 book “Working with Spiritual Struggles in Psychotherapy: From Research to Practice.” Francis Lu will introduce Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 “The Seventh Seal” depicting the return home of a knight and his squire in medieval Europe during the Black Plague. Five film clips will be shown. Ken Pargament will first discuss struggles with God as they manifest themselves in the film, including feelings of divine abandonment, punishment by God, and attributions of the plague to witches. Julie Exline will then discuss struggles with Death and related struggles of ultimate meaning that arise in the film.

MAIN PRESENTER: Francis Lu, M.D., DLFAPA, is the Luke & Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry, Emeritus, at UC, Davis. The American Psychiatric Association has awarded him Special Presidential Commendations in both 2002 and 2016 for his contributions to cultural psychiatry, and in 2020, a Distinguished Service Award. In 2020, the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award. He successfully proposed with 2 others including the diagnostic category of Religious or Spiritual Problem in the DSM-IV to help with differential diagnosis of distressing experiences involving religion or spirituality. Since 1987, he has led or co-led 37 film seminars at Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA, on positive psychological qualities and character virtues, 28 with Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk.