Author Spotlight: Samuel Bendeck Sotillos

Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, PsyD, LMFT, LPCC, CCMHC, NCC, CPRP, CCTP, MHRS, is a practicing psychotherapist in California, who has worked for many years in the field of mental health and social services. He holds a doctorate in psychology from California Southern University and is both a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, as well as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in California. His focus is on the intersection between psychology, culture, and spirituality. He is a member of the Task Force on Indigenous Psychology (Division 32 of the American Psychological Association), an advisor to the Institute of Traditional Psychology, a member of the scientific board of the Knowledge and Hope Foundation, and serves on the editorial board of a number of journals. He has written four books and edited one. Two new works are currently in production: Sacred Psychology: A Global Perspective (Equinox, 2025); and Psyche and the Sacred: Integrating Mental Health and Spiritual Well-Being (Sentient, 2025). He has written over five dozen articles and one hundred book reviews in a wide range of journals.

Sentient: Tell us about your path as a writer. What inspired you to start writing, and what catalyzed the writing process for this book?

Bendeck Sotillos: This book came about through a deep interest in the world’s religions and their mystical dimensions. The relationship between the metaphysical roots underlying the spiritual traditions of humanity and their sacred psychologies is something that has drawn my interest for as long as I can remember. I work directly with people who struggle with mental health challenges that have a seriously adverse impact on their lives. This has led to the realization that the mental health field today suffers from radical shortcomings, which has prompted me to explore more holistic models of treatment. It soon became clear that the severe difficulties facing so many individuals were inseparable from the problems brought about by modernity itself. If the loss of the sacred and the trauma of nihilistic secularism goes unchecked, we will not properly grasp the roots of our global mental health crisis, and thus neglect the urgent need to restore a true “science of the soul” that we find in all religious paths that offer genuine healing and liberation.

Sentient: Was there a particular moment or experience that sparked the idea for your book? If so, can you tell us about it?

Bendeck Sotillos: A friend had mentioned the importance of the themes I had been writing about in various journals over the years, and suggested that they should be addressed in a single volume. Once the core ideas were reconsidered and adapted into chapter form, the result was a compilation that gave a valuable overview of sacred psychology in all its diversity around the world.

Sentient: What ultimate message do you hope to convey to readers?

Bendeck Sotillos: That modern Western psychology does not have a monopoly on the human psyche and mental health treatment. If we are going to call for a true decolonization of therapy, the spiritual crisis that has given rise to the mental health epidemic of the present-day needs to be examined candidly. Although modern science certainly has its place, it must not stray beyond the confines of its epistemological competence by asserting a hegemonic dominance on knowledge to which it is not entitled. When it does transgress in this way, it becomes the ideology of “scientism” which insists that the Western scientific method offers the only means of understanding reality (that is, in purely materialist terms). Scientism is a variation of reductionist thinking that also extends to any attempt to explain human behavior with sole reference to psychological causes (also known as “psychologism”). This aberration has persisted since the Enlightenment project—or the “Age of Reason”—from the 17th to 18th centuries onwards. Yet, in reality, psychology as we known it today is but a shadow of its former self.  Having abandoned a transcendent focus, it has essentially betrayed its sacred origins.

Sentient: What chapter or passage was the most fun for you to write?

Bendeck Sotillos: The chapter on psychedelics entitled “Entheogens and Sacred Psychology” was particularly important to write about, given the rise of the so-called “psychedelic renaissance” which led to an explosion of interest in this subject for mental health treatment. Given the significant confusion that abounds regarding the relationship between sacred medicine, mental health and the spiritual path, I felt that it would be useful to shed light on the complexities involved.   

Sentient: Do you have a writing routine? What does it look like? 

Bendeck Sotillos: This book consists of a collection of articles that have previously been published in a variety of journals. They were originally written as self-contained essays and not conceived with a book in mind. With this said, my writing routine varies depending on how much reading and research a given topic requires, yet I often find myself writing regularly, if not daily. The words of the English Catholic writer Bernard Kelly (1907–1958) come to mind here: “There are some of us who can’t rightly pray without a pen in our hands.”[1] 

Sentient: What role do you think books and authors play in contributing to meaningful and positive social change?

Bendeck Sotillos: As a map itself is not the terrain, so too books are not the reality conveyed by them. The saints of all traditions, have pointed out the limitations of relying solely on books for spiritual realization. Returning to the Divine through true knowledge (or gnōsis) are, most assuredly, not dependent on book learning. The Greek term anamnēsis (“remembrance”) is, according to Plato, the recollection of truths latent in the human soul. From this point of view, learning is possible only because knowledge is already inscribed in the reality of Spirit, which is immanent, as well as transcendent. With that said, books can provide a significant support for those in quest of a deeper way of  knowing, especially in today’s spiritually confused climate where authentic teachers are few and far between. While not a substitute for the rigors of undertaking “soul work,” books written by wise sages are capable of transforming our lives by serving as luminous pointers towards abiding truths. 

Sentient: If your book could help shift one perspective in our culture, what would it be?

Bendeck Sotillos: The Western worldview has claimed a monopoly on psychology, banishing any sacred “science of the soul” as long-taught by traditional cultures. Despite calls for the decolonization of modern Western psychology, this dominance continues to thwart attempts to remedy our current global mental health crisis. To suggest that there are alternative healing modalities is met with derision and resistance. Modern psychology claims supremacy for itself alone, failing to acknowledge that there are many other approaches, as reflected in the diverse spiritual patrimony of humanity. These are able to facilitate a “sacred psychology” that is informed by a metaphysical framework capable of providing effective remedies in response to the perennial pursuit of human wholeness.     

Sentient: What advice would you give to someone who wants to write their first book? 

Bendeck Sotillos: Contemplate what moves your heart, and you will find that a potential book will start to emerge in a direction that crystallizes your key thoughts. We cannot overlook that, according to the Hindu tradition, it is the confused or deluded person who asserts “I am the doer” (Bhagavad Gītā 3:27).[2] As with everything else of true value, it is the Divine alone which is the “doer.” Persistent identification with our “false” self is precisely what hampers this realization. This truth is unanimously asserted by all sacred cultures. So it is with writing; while we may engage in the necessary process of research and writing, the real impetus behind our work—to the extent that it serves the Spirit—is a power that surpasses our ego. 

You can preorder Psyche and the Sacred here! Available everywhere November 4, 2025.