The Power of Spirituality in Therapy

by Kahle, Peter A.; Robbins, John M.

• ISBN13: 9780789021137
• ISBN10: 0789021137
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-03-22
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Factor your clients' religious beliefs into their therapy! A recent Gallup poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed said they would prefer to receive counseling from a therapist who is religious. The Power of Spirituality in Therapy: Integrating Spiritual and Religious Beliefs in Mental Health Practice addresses the apprehensions many clinicians have when it comes to discussing God with their clients. Authors Peter A. Kahle and John M. Robbins draw from their acclaimed workshops on the integration of spirituality and psychotherapy to teach therapists how they can help clients make positive life changes that are consistent with their values and spiritual and/or religious orientations. The Power of Spirituality in Therapy combines psychotherapy, spirituality, and humor to examine the pink elephants” of academia-Godphobia and institutional a-spiritualism. The book explores the learned avoidance” that has historically limited therapists in their ability--and willingness--to engage clients in God-talk” and presents clinicians with methods they can use to incorporate spirituality into psychotherapy. Topics such as truth, belief, postmodernism, open-mindedness, and all-inclusiveness are examined through empirical findings, practical steps and cognitive processes, and clinical stories. The Power of Spirituality in Therapy includes: To Be (Ethical) or Not to Be? WHAT is the Question? To Believe or Not to Believe? That is NOT the Question! The Deification of Open-Mindedness Learning From Our Clients In God Do Therapists Trust? and much more! The Power of Spirituality in Therapy is an essential resource for therapists, counselors, mental health practitioners, pastoral counselors, and social work professionals who deal with clients who require therapy that reflects the importance of God in their lives. This guide will help those brave enough to explore how their own spiritual beliefs and/or biases can create problems when working with those clients.

Author Biography

John Robbins is the founder of the T.E.A.M. Program, a therapeutic group for at-risk adolescents.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Mark Odell
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction to a Journey	1	(6)
SECTION I: JOUSTING WITH THE PINK ELEPHANTS
Walking on Silent Eggshells	7	(8)
The Fear of Authenticity	7	(1)
Self-Reflexivity	8	(3)
Unpacking Learned Avoidance	11	(4)
Sources of Influence	15	(10)
Mapping the Influence of Learned Avoidance	15	(7)
The Ongoing Influence of Mixed Messages	22	(3)
The Influence of the Person of the Therapist	25	(8)
Early Influence	25	(1)
Some Constraints and Restraints to Integration	26	(4)
Separation of Church and State	30	(3)
To Be (Ethical) or Not to Be? What Is the Question?	33	(10)
The Ethics of Religion in Therapy	33	(4)
In God Does This Diverse Culture Trust?	37	(1)
Multiple Religious Cultures Within American Culture	38	(5)
The Influence of the Pink Elephants in the Ivory Tower	43	(12)
Brief Point of Clarification	43	(1)
Education and Training	44	(3)
Reactive versus Proactive Training	47	(2)
Supervising with a Back-Pew Driver	49	(6)
Can We Agree That Many Have Disagreed?	55	(8)
A Very Brief History of the Integration of Spirituality, Religion, and Therapy	56	(1)
The Psychology of Religion	57	(3)
The Pathologizing of Religion	60	(1)
Other Thoughts Along the Integration Continuum	61	(2)
Valuing Values in Psychotherapy	63	(6)
The Reformation of Value-Free Thinking	63	(2)
The Bergin-Ellis Debates	65	(4)
In God Do Therapists Trust? In Reality, Better Training Is a Must!	69	(12)
Studies of Religious Beliefs of Psychotherapists	69	(5)
Real-Life Implications	74	(4)
Conclusion	78	(3)
SECTION II: HOW THEN SHALL WE COUNSEL?
To Believe or Not to Believe? That Is Not the Question!	81	(16)
Truth, Justice, and a Therapeutic Way	82	(6)
Five of Our Therapeutic Beliefs	88	(9)
The Integration of Religion, Spirituality, and Clinical Practice	97	(10)
Is Integration Desired?	97	(1)
Explicit Integration	98	(3)
Implicit Integration	101	(2)
Pathways to Integration	103	(4)
Learning from Our Clients	107	(18)
Is Integration Inevitable?	107	(1)
Is Integration Helpful?	108	(2)
Do Clients Believe It's Helpful to Include Spirituality in Therapy?	110	(3)
Chantel and William	113	(3)
Explicitly Implicit Integration, Implicitly Explicit Integration, or ...?	116	(1)
Attending to Clients' Words	117	(8)
The Power to Help	125	(20)
Ten Ways Therapists Can Support Spiritual Health in Therapy	125	(15)
From Suicidal Psychosis to Sacred Sleep	140	(2)
Summary	142	(3)
The Power to Hurt	145	(26)
Two Vignettes	145	(4)
Ten Ways Therapists Can Harm Spiritual Health in Therapy	149	(22)
The Deification of Open-Mindedness	171	(14)
Vacant-Minded Open-Mindedness	173	(7)
Questions	180	(5)
God and Akelia: The Freedom That Binds	185	(8)
Nurturing the Creative Gift Within	185	(4)
Tracking the Influence of Success	189	(2)
Internalizing Personal Agency for Healthy Change	191	(2)
In Reverence of Power: Moving Toward Competence	193	(16)
What Is Power?	193	(1)
Ten Ways Therapists Can Work Toward Spiritually Competent Therapy	194	(8)
Revisiting Self-Reflexivity	202	(4)
The Examination Continues	206	(3)
References	209	(10)
Index	219