Spirituality in Psychotherapy

This book explores how Western European psychotherapists, interviewed between 2016 and 2019, understand spirituality and how they address spiritual matters in clinical sessions.

By studying a purposive sample of 15 Clinicians from Spain, England, Switzerland, Greece, Norway and Denmark, it was found that these shared similar views about spirituality, understood as dynamic, fluid and independent from religion. The interviewed psychotherapists showed great variation in their psychotherapy trainings, theoretical background and spiritual stances. However, the participants’ rich narratives illustrate that independently from their personal and professional background they all approached spiritual matters from a client centered, humanistic perspective. Spirituality was often addressed heuristically, integrating different approaches in a creative manner through an array of interventions. Differences in the participants’ religious and cultural background did not appear to determine the clinicians’ views and approaches. Recommendations for practice are discussed, stressing the relevance of implementing a non-materialistic scientific paradigm that acknowledges different personal experiences, as a source of spiritual knowledge. The importance of keeping a non-judgmental perspective and the need to acknowledge views and practices of those considering themselves as spiritual but not religious are also highlighted.

Different audiences may find this book relevant, for instance psychotherapists and those in charge of psychotherapy training programs wishing to integrate a spiritual perspective in clinical work independent from religious doctrines. Likewise, those interested in historical perspectives about the traditional exclusion of spirituality from clinical work as well as the current re-integration of non- dogmatic, fluid spiritual perspectives may find relevant information. The theoretical discussions and methodological explanations could be of interest for those considering to implement thematic analysis or to pursue qualitative studies from a collaborative and reflexive stance.

Contents:

TABLE OVERVIEW

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACTS

SECTION I: INTRODUCING THIS DISSERTATION

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION -RATIONALE AND CONTEXTUALIZATION

Concepts clarification

Starting this journey

How this chapter is organized

Dissertation goals and research question

Rationale and significance of this project

Theories underpinning this dissertation

Qualitative methodology and methods of data generation

Approaching an understanding of spirituality

SECTION II: LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER II: SPIRITUALITY AND RELATED CONSTRUCTS

Re-acknowledging spirituality in secularized societies

Spirit: the breath of life

Spirituality and religion: some differentiations

Spirituality as an evolutionary path

CHAPTER III: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES on SPIRITUALITY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Freud’s hostility towards religion

Religion excluded from modernist psychotherapy

Acknowledging the spiritual: Carl Gustav Jung

Some of Jung’s relevant constructs

A non material paradigm in science

CHAPTER IV: A SPIRITUAL REAWAKENING

Research on religion, spirituality and mental health

Integration of spirituality in psychotherapy work

Organizations bridging spirituality and mental health

Therapists’ attitudes influence clinical work

SECTION III: THEORIES, METHODOLOGY AND METHODS

CHAPTER V: THEORETICAL INFLUENCES

A Bricolage approach to qualitative inquiry

Metatheories – theories on what research is about

Towards a postmaterialist view of science

Postmodern perspectives

Reflexivity in collaborative research

CHAPTER VI: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS

Choosing a qualitative research methodology

Methods

The research sample

Introducing the fifteen participants

Table 1- The participants’ Psychotherapeutic Orientation

Table 2 – The participants’ Religious Family Background

Table 3 – The participants’ Spiritual Stance Now

A brief presentation of each participant

Research as an invitation

Data generation: qualitative research interviews

Lines of Inquiry

CHAPTER VII: DATA ANALYSIS, QUALITY STANDARDS AND ETHICAL ISSUES

The analysis process

Addressing quality criteria in this inquiry

Ethical concerns

SECTION IV: REPRESENTING THE GENERATED DATA in THREE CHAPTERS

Representing the generated data

My expectations before starting the study

CHAPTER VIII: FINDINGS-UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUALITY

The Participants’ understanding of Spirituality

Spirituality: fluid and evolving

CHAPTER IX: FINDINGS- NAVIGATING THE SPIRITUAL

Spiritual approaches and the therapist’s orientation

Spiritual interventions independent of client’s expectations

Spiritual needs come from soul, not culture

Therapist’s self-disclosure–or not?

Table 4 – Some of the participants’ interventions

CHAPTER X: FINDINGS – INTEGRATING SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES

Personal and professional growth

Table 5 – Personal experiences influencing the therapists’ spiritual views

Spirituality and psychotherapy: blurry boundaries

Ideas about including spirituality in psychotherapy

Signs of a paradigm shift

SECTION V: DISCUSSION OF THE GENERATED FINDINGS

CHAPTER XI: DISCUSSION – UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUALITY

Acknowledging spirituality as a flexible concept

Personal sources of spiritual knowledge

Reflections on the participants’ spiritual understanding

CHAPTER XII: DISCUSSION- NAVIGATING SPIRITUAL ISSUES IN SESSIONS

A bricolage of interventions

A globalized, non-local psychotherapy culture

Openness to a spirituality within psychotherapy

Jung inspired understanding

Addressing new spiritual expressions

CHAPTER XIII: DISCUSSION- INTEGRATING SPIRITUALITY and CRITICAL REMARKS

Experiencing and integrating spirituality

Critical perspectives and power issues

Reflections about the participants’ contributions

An autoethnographic reflection

SECTION VI: IMPLICATIONS AND EVALUATION

CHAPTER XIV: PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS and EVALUATION of the INQUIRY

Suggestions for practice

Main premises suggested to consider in psychotherapy

Limitations of this study

Directions for further research

E-valuation of the dissertation work

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Letter of Information and Consent

Appendix 2: Lines of Inquiry

Appendix 3: Example of interview follow Up

Appendix 4: Excerpts from the reflexive journal