An Invitation to Heal

AnneMarie Miller reviews Guilt, a beautiful book on psychological healing and growth by Caryll Houselander.  

When I saw Caryll Houselander’s book, Guilt (Sophia Institute Press, 2022), I remembered how many bookmarks I tucked into The Reed of God—a classic by Houselander—and knew that this book on psychological healing would be worth reading. Several days after initially picking Guilt up, the pages of my volume are marked and underlined extensively. This is a book that I will continue to return to.  

Houselander begins by discussing the widespread experience of guilt and psychological suffering. She dives into scrupulosity and the obsession with self-perfection, suffering, and fear. Houselander argues that many of the challenges we struggle with stem, in some way, from an inordinate self-love. Throughout her discussions, she draws from spiritual writers, saints, and psychologists.   

The points she made were insightful and challenging. This book was uncomfortable to read at parts, because it forced me to examine myself and recognize areas where I have been practicing an obsessive self-love instead of loving God. In particular, I enjoyed Houselander’s section on Confession and her emphasis that our reception of this sacrament should not be based on feelings. “Going to Confession is an act of love for God. Like all love, it is an act of will. Feeling may or may not enter into it,” she notes (p. 81). The only part of this book that I didn’t like as much was the final section, in which Houselander provides a series of short reflections on famous men and women who are examples of how we can seek God in the midst of psychological challenges or turn away from Him.   

Many times throughout this book, I was struck with the connections that Houselander made, and how relevant they were to my own life and struggles. As a writer, I was especially struck by a short section about the fear of risk and self-revelation that can plague artists:   

Many pictures are not painted, many sculptures are not made, many books are not written, because the men and women who could have created them cannot bear to face themselves stripped naked in their work or allow others to gaze upon the humiliating secret of self. (160)  

While the painful revelations of this book were bleak at times, Houselander keeps things focused on God. She meditates on the life of Christ and reminds us of the necessity to grow in love of God and others if we wish to heal, become saints, and live in the abundant joy of the Trinity. Guilt, by Caryll Houselander, is a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it! 

Copyright 2023 AnneMarie Miller
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