Spirituality in Psychotherapy : : How Do Psychotherapists Understand, Navigate, Experience and Integrate Spirituality in Their Professional Encounters with Clients?

• Author: Carli, A.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden : : Sidestone Press,, 2021.; ©2020.
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (332 pages)

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.

Table of Contents

Intro -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- ABSTRACTS -- INTRODUCTION - RATIONALE AND CONTEXTUALIZATION -- Starting this journey -- Theories underpinning this dissertation -- Situating this dissertation within a historical and professional context -- Qualitative methodology and methods of data generation -- Values and personal experiences that inform my work -- Blurring borders of schools of psychotherapy thought -- Writing from the margins -- An invitation into a pilgrimage -- Approaching the literature on the subject matter -- SPIRITUALITY AND RELATED CONSTRUCTS -- Religion: rebinding with a higher dimension -- Spirituality, religiosity and religiousness -- The Evolution of Spirituality as a construct -- HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES on SPIRITUALITY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY -- Spirituality and Mental Health: a contextualization -- Acknowledging the spiritual: Carl Gustav Jung -- Jung and Alcoholics Anonymous -- Jung excluded from academia -- A non material paradigm in science -- Changes of paradigm are demanding -- A non material paradigm and spirituality in clinical practice -- A SPIRITUAL REAWAKENING -- Research on religion, spirituality and mental health -- Some psychotherapy approaches integrating spirituality -- Addressing negative religious and spiritual experiences -- Therapists' attitudes influence clinical work -- THEORETICAL INFLUENCES -- A bricolage approach to qualitative inquiry -- Metatheories - theories on what research is about -- Towards a postmaterialist view of science -- Postmodern perspectives -- METHODOLOGY AND METHODS -- An overview of the research design: Crotty's model -- Choosing a qualitative research methodology -- Methods -- Research as an invitation -- Approaching the interview situation -- DATA ANALYSIS, QUALITY STANDARDS AND ETHICAL ISSUES -- The analysis process -- Choosing Thematic Analysis -- The Coding Process.

Addressing quality criteria in this inquiry -- Addressing external parallel criteria of quality -- Addressing intrinsic standards of trustworthiness -- Ethical concerns -- My influences on this inquiry -- FINDINGS-UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUALITY -- The Participants' understanding of Spirituality -- Integrating different spiritual perspectives -- Feeling of "Awe" and wonder -- "Old Times" spirituality -- Space for new spiritual expressions -- An individual, non-religious search -- Spirituality: fluid and evolving -- Spirit is dynamic and can respond -- Jesus: a spiritual and therapeutic inspiration -- Integrating different spiritual worldviews -- FINDINGS - NAVIGATING THE SPIRITUAL -- Spiritual approaches and the therapist's orientation -- Addressing the formless level: Time Therapy -- The therapist introduces spiritual themes -- Spiritual translations -- Clients in conflict with their family's worldviews -- Spiritual needs come from soul, not culture -- Therapist's self-disclosure-or not? -- FINDINGS - INTEGRATING SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES -- Giving words to nonverbal experiences -- Getting help from spiritual guides -- Personal and professional growth -- The impact of the spiritually charged interactions on the therapist -- Personal experiences influencing the therapists' spirituality -- The therapists' own spiritual practices -- The call to become a therapist -- Signs of a paradigm shift -- An array of intervention forms -- DISCUSSION - UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUALITY -- Spirituality difficult to define -- Increasingly secularized societies -- 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 -- Integrating interventions -- A convergence with postmodern psychotherapy approaches.

DISCUSSION - INTEGRATING SPIRITUALITY and CRITICAL REMARKS -- Experiencing and integrating spirituality -- Critical perspectives and power issues -- Reflections about the participants' contributions -- An autoethnographic reflection -- PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS and EVALUATION of the INQUIRY -- Co-constructing an understanding of spirituality -- Suggestions for practice -- Learning from this study -- Experiencing Social Construction -- Main premises suggested to consider in psychotherapy -- Addressing spirituality in generative ways -- Limitations of this study -- E-valuation of the dissertation work -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- APPENDICES -- Blank Page.