The Psychology of Gothard and Basic Youth Conflicts Seminar1

The structure of Gothard's thought as it is outlined in the Seminar on Basic Youth Conflicts and the “red notebook” was analyzed. The analysis focused on three categories which are related to psychology: the nature of man, theory of pathology and theory of therapy. The strengths and weaknesses of Gothard's system of thought is evaluated from a biblical perspective since this is his chosen frame of reference. it was concluded that Gothard has developed a vertical psychology of God the Father and omitted a loving relational psychology of the Son and a spontaneous or joyous psychology of the Spirit.