Good psychology

Is Christianity (and religion in general) just good psychology? I've been working with a psychologist this year as well as a personal coach to improve some aspects in my life. One thing that I'm finding is that Christianity offers some really solid psychological principles by which it works on. So if I take the God piece out of it, am I just left with a good psychology text book that was ahead of its time? Is this a validation that there is a God who knows what he's doing? Or were the bible writers just really observant and pre-cursors to the study of psychology?
One thing that I have been reading about is this whole concept of helplessness that is imparted onto us. When we are in this state, we become more depressed and easily give up because we know that we can't affect the outcome. I think for my part that this was the case. That there was a sense of hopelessness because there was a benevolent God out there who wouldn't look after me, so I learnt that no matter what I did that God would do what He wanted (bear in mind that this is my personal perception). This led to my feelings of helplessness. How can you just give over everything and put yourself to a God without a feeling of helplessness? How do other Christians cope with this? How can I balance this in my own life?

Guilt

For probably the first time in a long time, I haven't felt guilty. I have always lived under the standards of a God who has always known what is right for me. Living up to his expectations has been hard. Anything that I felt was not to His code of moral uprightness always caused me guilt.
Perhaps it's not so much His pressure, but the internal expectation I placed on myself. I never felt good enough, always fighting to live to be someone that I felt I was not. Always failing, and living a life that I never felt was mine. I think all my baggage along with the sensation of living a double life crippled me.
I'm free of that crippling feeling. I can actually just be me for a while.
In light of all of this, I'm not sure how His forgiveness really works. I've always been taught that forgiveness of sin provides freedom. But under the yoke of trying to change for the sake of being a "good Christian", I felt its weight. Maybe, I've missed something fundamental in my relationship with God. In fact, I'm sure of it.
I think that there was too much of the, "If you love God then ...". Does God love me sins and all? Does he love me for the way he made me? Isn't there a double responsibility for what I am?
All of a sudden, I'm not sure how it all ties together. Surely, I'm not supposed to live under such guilt. Does being "me" gel with what the bible wants to make me into? Is this just the church's inadvertent legalism that has filtered into what is good?

My Past

I've been a Christian for over 10 years. I've done ministry, and sacrificed my personal wants for that privilege. To say that I've "been there and done that", would be a fair statement. So why am I writing this blog?

The last few years have been hard, and my faith, and everything I have believed in has slowly eroded away. So I find myself in a position where I don't really believe any more. I'm not sure whether it was a particular event, or just pre-disposition in my nature. So this is really my attempt to explore all the questions that I have. To understand myself, and to collect my thoughts.

Some people have recovered from this, others have not. It remains to be seen where I will end up, but I hope that if you're reading this blog and you're going through something similar, it'll be helpful.