Developing practice in a context of religious faith: A study of psychotherapists who are Quakers

Nineteen Quakers who are also counsellors or psychotherapists were interviewed in a qualitative pkenomenological study about the impact, if any, of their spiritual beliefs on their work. The research was conducted using an approach based on Moustakas' heuristics. The spiritual faith of the therapists impacted on their work in several ways: their sense of their own spiritual journey helped them understand their clients' spiritual journey; their spiritual faith underpinned their work; it gave them something extra, which included inspiration, spiritual preparation before and between therapy sessions, and prayer; and for a minority of respondents there were conflicts which were sometimes expressed in supervision. The implications of these findings are explored in relation to training, supervision, and the secular settings in which these therapists mosdy worked.     

Satir Model of Family Therapy and Spiritual Direction

To consider a connection between the therapy model named under Virginia Satir and the practice of spiritual direction may arouse suspicion. This paper, however, attempts to show that the link between the two is natural, sensible, and inspiring, particularly for the part of spiritual direction. The first section of the paper first addresses the fact that spiritual direction, with its unique focus, is not to be confused with psychotherapy, then, discusses the recognized need to seek a psychologically sound model of spiritual direction. The second section describes some of the useful concepts in the Satir model and then relates them to the various aspects of spiritual direction. It is believed that the Satir model of therapy can enrich the practice of spiritual direction in a number of ways. Ekman P. C. Tam is the Spiritual Director of Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre, Hong Kong.     

Navigating the spaces of children’s spiritual experiences: influences of tradition(s), multidisciplinarity and perceptions

ABSTRACT

Children across the world report similar spiritual experiences. Empirical studies suggest that most resonate with the children’s traditions; a finding which should, in theory, afford them a safe spiritual space. However, a number of factors can situate them in a less certain place. The paper uses the metaphors of trees imbued with different shades of light, from the vivid, shimmering and opaque to the invisible, to illustrate the types of spiritual spaces in which children find themselves. Their location is shaped in part by connection or disconnection with traditions, alongside wider cultural forces. Three navigation tools are used to show how children may move between these spaces: the spiritual experience and its relationship with traditions; the influences of multidisciplinary approaches; and children’s perceptions of their experiences. The paper concludes that these metaphors and tools may be a useful way to understand the spiritual spaces in which children find themselves.     

Retrospective spiritual narratives: exploring recalled childhood and adolescent spiritual experiences

This paper draws on a collection of retrospective narratives of childhood and adolescent spiritual experiences to explore the qualities and characteristics of the spirituality of the young. They recall a range of spiritual experiences that touch on death, mortality, visions, and perceptions and connections beyond the self. Their experiences include varying intensities of emotion and invoke a range of responses in them and others. The paper considers the social, emotional and familial context of these early life experiences and their impact on spiritual experience and the possibility/impossibility and freedom/lack of freedom to express, and integrate spirituality.     

Spirituality as a Dimension of Family Therapists' Clinical Training

From its psychoanalytic beginnings, therapy training has emphasized the crucial role the self of the therapist plays in the effectiveness of therapy. Attention initially focused on therapists' personal history and vulnerabilities and later included an exploration of their relationship style. Less emphasis has been placed on analyzing therapists' belief and meaning systems which inescapably influence their clinical conceptualizations, attitudes, and behaviors. This article defines spirituality as attributions of a personal nature which give meaning to life events, help transcend difficult experiences, maintain hopefulness, and lead to behaviors which honor connectedness and proposes a rationale for including the spiritual dimension in therapy and therapy training and steps graduate training programs and supervisors may take to raise therapists' spiritual understandings.     

A study of posttraumatic spiritual transformation and forgiveness among victims of significant interpersonal offences

Forgiveness and spiritual transformation, both gain and decline, may follow being victimised. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of forgiveness in posttraumatic spiritual transformation following interpersonal offences. One hundred forty-six participants who had been “significantly wronged” by another person completed measures of event-related distress, forgiveness, and spiritual transformation. Results showed that spiritual growth was positively related to the personal importance of religion. Event-related distress and unforgiveness were positively correlated with spiritual decline. Regression analyses revealed that forgiveness did not uniquely account for a significant amount of the variance in spiritual growth after controlling for demographic variables, religious and spiritual importance, and event-related distress. Rather, religious and spiritual importance accounted for a significant amount of variance in spiritual growth. Unforgiveness uniquely predicted spiritual decline. This study suggests a complex relationship between spiritual transformation and forgiveness. Results are discussed within the context of implications for clinicians and researchers alike.     

Religious literacy or spiritual awareness? Comparative critique of Andrew Wright’s and David Hay’s approaches to spiritual education

On the basis of a comparison of the educational approaches of Andrew Wright and David Hay this paper illustrates the persisting problem of dichotomising cognitive and trans‐cognitive aspects of spiritual development and education. Even though both Wright and Hay speak of the same topic – spirituality and spiritual education – they define these terms very differently, and as a consequence, they draw altogether different practical implications, set different priorities, and warn of different dangers in spiritual education. The main question set in this paper is whether it is possible to make room in spiritual education for both of these perspectives and how to combine them in a more holistic way. With the help of the Wilber‐Combs lattice, which is one of the main heuristic devices employed by the integral philosophy, one possible way toward integrating cognitive and trans‐cognitive aspects of spritual development and education is proposed.     

Use of religious and spiritual interventions by trainees in APA-accredited Christian clinical psychology programs

Little is known about the effectiveness of Christian clinical programs accredited by the American Psychological Association in training students to use religious and spiritual interventions in therapy. We surveyed 162 student therapists from three such programs regarding their training experiences and use of religious and spiritual interventions. Self-reported competency and use of religious and spiritual interventions correlated with a number of training components. However, none of the training components predicted unique variance in regression equations above and beyond that of general professional training, personal religiousness, and intervention-specific training. Suggestions are offered regarding intervention-specific training in both Christian and secular programs, the role of personal therapy in training, and the development of guidelines for competency in using religious and spiritual interventions.     

Towards a model of influence of spirituality on leadership: empirical research of school leaders on Catholic schools in the Netherlands

What is spirituality? What is leadership? And what is their relationship? The article presents the concept of ‘discernment’ (Latin: ‘discretion’) as the link (tertium comperationis) between spirituality and leadership. Spirituality is a way of life in (the growth of) discernment towards human fullness, which is grounded in a moral universe (God, nature). Three elements are employed in discernment: spiritual traits (Cloninger), spiritual capital (Bourdieu) and spiritual transformation (Waaijman). The influence of spirituality on leadership is empirically tested in research among 97 leaders (principals) of Catholic schools in the Netherlands. The findings show three types of leadership, namely trustworthy guiding leadership, empowering leadership and autocratic leadership. Our model with three predictors of a spiritual life growing in discernment (spiritual traits, capital and transformation) is partially confirmed, and looks promising for future research. In the discussion, the authors reflect on trustworthy-guiding leadership from the concept of attestation of Paul Ricoeur.     

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy

This article presents acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a spiritually integrated therapeutic modality. ACT is a value‐driven therapy that involves facilitating transcendence of physical, mental, and emotional experience to alleviate human suffering; as such, ACT shares common ground with the domain of spirituality. Approached as a spiritually integrated therapy, ACT can help clients to access spiritual resources and create life meaning as well as aid in the resolution or transformation of spiritual struggles. Given that spiritual struggles, in particular, can have a significant impact on mental health and well‐being, this article provides guidance in how ACT can address such struggles.     

Spirituality and child protection in early childhood education: a strengths approach

In recent international and Australian early childhood curriculum guidelines and child-protection policies, the need for teachers of young children to foster spirituality has been highlighted. However, what this might mean in practice has not been widely explored. This article addresses the more controversial issue of spiritual abuse and the right of children to protection in terms of spiritual development. We present a critique of current definitions taken from research and policy documents. Qualitative data provide the research background. Vignettes are presented to give examples of what spiritual harm might look like in practice. Finally, a strengths-based approach is introduced and strategies are suggested in order to explore the potential of the Strengths Approach (a social justice approach originating from social service practice) to aid early years’ teachers to create spiritually protective learning environments. This approach recognises and values children’s holistic development and wellbeing and supports them to appreciate, engage with and question the world around them with a resilient spirit.     

Understanding the Ageing Process: A Developmental Perspective of the Psychosocial and Spiritual Dimensions

SUMMARY

This chapter describes a perspective of psychosocial and spiritual development in the later years of life. It outlines a study of nurses conducted in six nursing homes using pre and post workshop tests to identify changes in nurses' assignment of a list of behaviours as psychosocial or spiritual. Use of SPSS found significant changes between the pre and post tests. Pre workshop tests only identified items as spiritual if they included the word God, or Bible. Results from this study highlight the potential role for nurses in aged care to provide spiritual care as part of holistic care. It also highlights the fact that many nurses feel ill prepared for this role.     

Client and therapist variability in clients' perceptions of their therapists' multicultural competencies

This study examined therapist differences in their clients' ratings of their therapists' multicultural competencies (MCCs) as well as tested whether therapists' who were rated as exhibiting more MCCs also had clients who had better therapy outcomes (N = 143 clients and 31 therapists). All clients completed at least 3 sessions. Results demonstrated that therapists accounted for less than 1% of the variance in their clients' Cross-Cultural Counseling Inventory–Revised (CCCI-R; T. D. LaFromboise, H. L. K. Coleman, & A. Hernandez, 1991) scores, suggesting that therapists did not differ in terms of how clients rated their MCCs. Therapists accounted for approximately 8.5% of the variance in therapy outcomes. For each therapist, their clients' CCCI-R scores were aggregated to provide an estimate of therapists' MCCs. Therapists' MCCs, based on aggregate CCCI-R scores, did not account for the variability in therapy outcomes that were attributed to them. Additionally, clients' race/ethnicity, therapists' race/ethnicity, or the interaction of clients'–therapists' race/ethnicity were not significantly associated with clients' perceptions of their therapists' MCCs.     

In defence of the concept of ‘spiritual education’: a reply to Roger Marples

In a paper published in Volume 11, no. 2, of this journal, Roger Marples argued that the term ‘spiritual education’ is at most superfluous and at worst entirely meaningless. He suggested that the use of the term is unhelpful and will continue to be so unless and until we can identify some body of spiritual knowledge and understanding, linked to experience, which is distinct from, and in some sense ‘beyond’, those of moral, aesthetic and other forms of experience.

This paper critique's Marples's thesis. It examines his ploy of admitting only certain forms of knowledge and understanding, and of privileging certain languages, when determining the rules of engagement with the concept of ‘the spiritual’. It is further argued that to require some empirical evidence in the form of personal experience before the words ‘spiritual’ and ‘spiritual education’ can be meaningful is fundamentally misguided. In conclusion, it is suggested that a willingness to embrace the spiritual as concept, experience and awareness is essential to the education of the child as a whole person.     

Recognition of seven spiritual identities and its implications on children

Seven spiritual identities are determined based on a study conducted on a group of 125 participants. The objective of the study was to examine (a) how spirituality is experienced individually and collectively; and (b) identify the commonalities and differences in spiritual experiences. The participants ranged in age from 17 to over 55, and were recruited from three sources. One group consisted of an on‐campus population of undergraduate students majoring in different disciplines. The second group consisted of faculty and students who attended annual seminars on ‘Spirituality and Children’. The third group consisted of participants at meetings and conferences who volunteered to participate in the study. Altogether they formed a self‐selected sample of 29 males and 96 females, representing different religious and non‐religious backgrounds. Based on the analysis seven spiritual identities are recognised and presented and broad classroom strategies for professionals working with children are discussed.     

Perceptions of Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Occupational Therapy Practice

Occupational therapists view human occupation as active engagement in that which brings meaning to the life of the patient. Spirituality is understood to be one important construct in the creation of meaning in the lives of human beings. This study examined the attitudes toward the use of spiritual care in occupational therapy. The study sample consisted of 310 occupational therapists. Data were collected through the use of a secure web-based survey tool. Analysis was conducted to determine the significance of relationships between several important constructs (e.g., education, theory base, definition of spirituality) and perceptions regarding the use of spiritual care.     

Attachment to God,adult attachment,and spiritual pathology: mediator and moderator effects

In this exploratory study, we examined moderated mediation models grounded in psychoanalytic and attachment theory regarding the correspondence between adult attachment and Divine–human relating in a sample of graduate students in the USA. Results supported the correspondence hypothesis as positive correlations between adult attachment dimensions and attachment to God dimensions were observed. An interaction effect was observed as spiritual grandiosity moderated the indirect effect between insecure adult attachment and insecure God attachment dimensions through spiritual instability. Results therefore provided support for the theoretical notion that spiritual dysregulation can function as a mechanism of the attachment correspondence that varies as a function of spiritual grandiosity. Findings are discussed in the context of advancing existing theory on implicit models of attachment correspondence and the nature of the association between spiritual insecurity and spiritual grandiosity.     

The spiritual care of sick children: reflections from a pilot participation project

The authors are a multi-disciplinary team of chaplains, one with a counselling qualification, and an academic with a research background in spirituality and youth work. A pilot participation project undertaken at Birmingham Children’s Hospital (UK) focused on increasing the understanding of the spiritual needs of sick children and young people and involving children and young people in improving the service and provision of spiritual and religious care to them. Views from children, young people and parents were sought with the intention of developing resources and training that help facilitate the meeting of spiritual and religious needs of children and young people in hospital. Within the wider chaplaincy team are chaplains from the six major world faiths and this project considers spiritual needs of children and young people who perceive themselves as belonging to a faith group or not. Reflections from the pilot include identifying ten principles and practices to inform the spiritual care of sick children and proposing the concept of interpretive spiritual encounters as a tool for spiritual care. The pilot study indicated that being more proactive in offering spiritual care enhanced the quality of service offered by Chaplaincy.     

The Dark Night of the Soul: spiritual distress and its psychiatric implications

The Dark Night of the Soul is an expression describing phases in a person's spiritual life associated with a crisis of faith or spiritual concerns about the relationship with God, and which has intrinsic aspects of spiritual growth. This paper is concerned with the way in which those going through periods of angst and disillusionment do not see them as pathological phenomena. On the contrary, through a process of attribution of religious meaning they view them as opportunities for reflecting on their lives and as agents for beneficial change. Similarities and differences between the Dark Night and a depressive episode are discussed and illustrated using the accounts of five important religious figures. Their narratives have been constructed using original texts and their biographies. The Dark Night has clinical implications owing to the risk of its being pathologised, serving as a reminder of the importance of incorporating existential issues into clinical practice.