Today, mental health professionals have welcomed the influx of a variety of innovations related to psychological theory, including interest in psychoanalysis, client-centered therapy, systems therapy, humanistic therapies, as well as New Age theories. A large segment of the psychological community in Russia welcomes Christian psychology and psychotherapy as a legitimate approach to the discipline. As the integration of psychology and Christianity has become a topic of interest in the church and in the psychological community, a simultaneous dialogue has begun that transcends the integration question. A number of groups and activities have encouraged both of these dialogues. Moscow Christian School of Psychology, a graduate program of psychology operating in Moscow, offers a three-year curriculum focusing on the treatment of children, adolescents, and families.
Students complete classes in both theoretical and practical aspects of clinical psychology.
They also receive practicum training and extensive supervision, neither of which has been widely utilized in Russian clinical psychology training. The director of the school is Dr. Alexander Makhnach, a Russian Orthodox believer who is a psychologist and a fellow of the Institute of Psychology in Moscow. Assisting this school from the beginning has been Dr. Janice Strength, an evangelical Christian on the faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary. Following several years of seminars and workshops the first class in this diploma program started in January of 1995. The combination of both Russian and American Christian faculty has created an atmosphere in which students are continually exposed not only to central issues concerning the integration of psychology and Christianity, but also to issues of interface between Eastern and Western Christianity.