Exploring the role of spirituality in couple and family relationships, this successful text and practitioner guide illustrates ways to tap spiritual resources for coping, healing, and resilience. Leading experts in family therapy and pastoral care discuss how faith beliefs and practices can foster personal and relational well-being, how religious conflicts or a spiritual void can contribute to distress, and what therapists can gain from reflecting on their own spiritual journeys. Rich with insights for working with multi-faith and culturally diverse clients, the book combines theory, research, and clinical illustrations.
"This volume documents a remarkable transformation in family therapists’ regard for spirituality. It urges clinicians to follow streams of spiritual experience through family belief systems, rituals, and communities, in order to appreciate the rich therapeutic possibilities that spirituality provides. Capturing the diversity of contemporary families, the contributors provide an array of approaches for helping people cope assertively with losses, injustices, and adversities in their lives."-James L. Griffith, MD, Department of Psychiatry, The George Washington University Medical Center
"Distinguished practitioner Froma Walsh and her contributing authors affirm the fundamental place of spirituality in individual, couple, and family therapy. Topics include therapeutic applications related to grieving, forgiveness, and meditation, as well as approaches to working with special populations, such as immigrants and refugees. The book assists therapists to recognize, assess, and appreciate their own and their clients’ spirituality so that spirituality can become a constructive aspect of therapy. Theoretically grounded yet practical, this is essential reading for students and established professionals alike."- Martin W. Rovers, PhD, Faculty of Human Sciences, St. Paul University, Ottawa, Canada