My Journey to a Doctorate

My journey toward the accomplishment of a dissertation proposing a new paradigm for “true mental health” began in the summer of 2008 when I had a transformative experience that liberated me, at least temporarily, from chronic depression. At that time I realized that my depression was mostly caused by a vicious cycle of self-accusation thinking which could be broken through recognizing wrong thinking habits and changing them, that is, through confession and repentance starting with my thoughts and then actions. I then decided to attend a 40 day Chung Pyung training center workshop beginning in July of that year for the purpose of purifying my spirit mind and body by liberating evil spirits attached to me.

There, Dr. David Carlson who had been one of my professors at the Unification Theological Seminary twenty years earlier, planted the thought in my mind to pursue a doctoral degree at Cheongshim Graduate School of Theology which is located near the training center. During that training period, I also received a calling from God to express in writing His (Their) viewpoint about mental health and illness (True Parents’ thought is just beginning to be systematically applied to psychology or the mental health fields). Although I hold no degree in psychology, I have experienced mental illness to varying degrees over a 40 year period of my life and have tried in several ways to deal with it including medication and group therapy. I have come to put my belief and trust in the spiritual works of the Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center and have realized gradual and steady improvement by restoring my ancestors and liberating resentful spirits attached to me during training and “ansu” sessions. I have found that my mind has become clearer, purer and more focused and I have been able to more readily identify and change negative habits of thinking and feeling. I promised to fulfill God’s calling although I did not know how I would “make it happen.”

Within a year’s time, God opened a few doors allowing me to gain employment in Korea and be accepted into the Doctor of Ministry program at Cheongshim Graduate School of Theology in 2009 and 2010 respectively. I consider myself a most blessed and privileged person to be allowed to grow spiritually and research and write in this “Heaven on Earth” environment. Developing my dissertation has been a great challenge, partly because I am not an experienced academician. However, I have trusted that my lacking points would be “filled in” by my passion and the assistance of Heaven and my restored ancestors and husband in the spirit world.

The title of the completed version of my dissertation, which was passed by an examination committee of five professors in December 2012, is: A Study of Models of Mental Health and Illness with an Appraisal from the Unification Thought Perspective; Toward a God-centered Paradigm.

Using 9 categories to explain various models so that they can be critically compared, I described the Western psychology/psychiatry model, the Eastern religious model, and the Human Energy Field (aura) model which is based on the holism worldview (Chapter I). I also describe the Unification Thought model using the same categories (Chapter II). In Chapter III I critically compare 3 models with the UT model. It becomes apparent through this process that the 3 models have both limitations and strengths which the UT model is able to recognize and resolve, and also harmonize and integrate. This is because UT is a comprehensive and holistic perspective which encompasses the physical, spiritual, and energetic perspectives of the other models.

Paul Fujiwara

When I first came to South Korea, I had been hired by the Sun Moon University Institute of Language Education on a one year contract. This job permitted me to have adequate income to support me and my son. Working at SMU also provided me with a teacher visa. In the meantime, I applied to the Cheongshim Graduate School and was accepted. While I was in the second semester of my teaching contract, I began to take courses with Dr. Carlson. He allows his students, who can’t come to class, to take his courses by reading the book as well as study his power point presentations.

The Doctor of Ministry program is ideally 2 years long (but most students take longer to complete and pass their dissertation). A doctoral student can take all elective courses. She must pass the comprehensive exam and go through the proposal and examination process until she passes. Usually there is lots of revision to do based on professor and advisor feedback. A DMin degree is not as advanced as a PhD program. Doctor of Ministry implies that one is doing or developing a ministry which is the practical application of a proposed new paradigm. In my case, that new paradigm has to do with “true mental health.”

It is my hope and expectation that this dissertation can act as a catalyst for those who feel called in the realm of Unification Psychology to collaborate in the development of the paradigm for “true mental health” which I propose. My dissertation is a framework for Unification psychology. I need help to put flesh on the bones of the UT skeleton! I consider my dissertation as my unique contribution for the establishment and expansion of Cheon Il Guk, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

I graduated on February 13, 2013. I plan to continue living in Seorak-myeon near all the Cheongshim facilities. I have a job doing mostly editing at home for a company which has a special niche market in the translation and editing business field. I plan to publish my dissertation and develop presentations and symposia, as well as webinars, etc., etc. Writing my dissertation is only the formation stage of what I intend to do as a published author. So watch for my books on Amazon.com!