Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy

by P. Scott Richards

A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy, Second Edition shows mental health professionals how to deal sensitively with clients whose spirituality or religion is an important part of their lives. It highlights the therapeutic possibilities religion and spirituality can offer. Building on the success of the first edition, the new edition provides timely updates and additional theoretical grounding for integrating a theistic, spiritual strategy into mainstream psychology.

Genres: Counselling

422 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for anyone in the helping professions. Most Americans have some religious or spiritual inclinations, and that resource (faith, guiding principles, church communities) can support and enhance efforts to help them. The authors see immense value in the religious. It is about being respectful; not simply tolerant of other views, but seeking to understand and perhaps even being reverent of that which informs them. Therapists can do better work when they are willing to better understand and link presenting problems and their potential solutions with the faith or "meaning of life" sensibilities of the client. Even non-believers can benefit from an orientation of life meaningfulness that is akin to spirituality. Everyone wants to be able one day to look back on their life and see that they have lived well.

Obviously some people have religious beliefs that impede them in many ways. This book offers strategies for gently, respectfully helping clients clarify their beliefs, reconcile contradictions, explore and question their beliefs, acknowledge their own doubts as worthwhile rather than sinful, and see how beliefs affect perceptions and behavior.

Some useful case studies are included here. The authors have a more recent book which I am about to read, going into more detail about specific religions, and things to consider when working with peole of different faiths. I'm likely to read much more about integrating "the spiritual" with therapy. Though to me it seems like it would be hard to do much effective therapy without incorporating the "spiritual." Behaviorists would reject that idea, of course. Spiritual things are by nature unmeasureable, intangible. But however useful the measureable, tangible things are, they certainly do not tell the whole story.

I gave four stars because I felt like there needed to be some mention of humor, of using humor where appropriate to show clients different attitudes and inconsistencies. There is a time for reverence, but there is definitely also a place for poking a little fun at the seriousness of it all, especially when it comes to rigidity and dogmatism.