Megan Hartman’s Reviews > Working with Spiritual Struggles in Psychotherapy: From Research to Practice > Status Update

“To be able to reflect provides a safeguard against getting overly caught up in experience and rushing to overly simple solutions——it is essential to regulating emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and relationships. Unable to reflect, it is easy to get lost in the search for significance, essentially flying blindly, incapable of reading all of the indicators on the instrument panel that offer essential guidance.”

“it may well be that with the vanishing of the God the believer breaks down without being able to reestablish his centered self.” (Paul Tillich) Unresolved spiritual struggles are linked to distress, disorientation, depression, anxiety, less satisfaction in life, poor emotional well-being, shame, hopelessness, less sense of meaning, less peace… chapter 4 uses countless research to show and prove that point.

Where do spiritual struggles come from? The research detailed in this book suggests the roots of spiritual struggles come from limits in a significant life purpose, limits to our orienting system, and exposure to negative and traumatic life events and stressors.

Important to note, spiritual struggles are a normal part of development and have value for growth and change, when properly processed.

“The words of Hasidic rabbi Susya are relevant here. Shortly before his death he said, "When I get to heaven they will not ask me, "why were you not Moses?' Instead, they will ask, 'Why were you not Susya? Why did you not become what only you could become?' " (Yalom, 1980, p. 278).”

Incredibly inspired by this book already. Chapter 1 highlights the unease to face spiritual struggles, even among Helpers - “don’t we assume a basic level of Security in our world” and how “this poses a challenge to our own positive illusions.” Hardship throws “most basic values, assumptions, actions, and beliefs into confusion.” And requires “grappling with profoundly spiritual questions.”

“I was sitting there with this one priest and said, "Father, I don't understand this: how does God allow small children to be killed? What is this thing, this war? I got all these friends who are dead... " That priest, he looked me in the eye and said, "I don't know, son, I've never been in war."

I said, "I didn't ask you about war,
I asked you about God."