Spiritual Resources in Family Therapy

by Walsh, Froma

• ISBN13: 9781572305083
• ISBN10: 1572305088
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-10-06
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

Spirituality is often regarded as "off-limits" in family therapy training and practice. Some therapists may be wary of influencing clients to adopt their own religious convictions; others, less spiritually oriented, may underestimate the importance of faith in clients' lives. Filling a crucial void, this volume shows how attending to religious and spiritual concerns in therapy can enrich clinical practice and help families tap into powerful resources for healing and change. Leading family therapists address such topics as religious perspectives on suffering and resilience; special concerns of poor, ethnic minority, and immigrant families; spiritual beliefs and experiences that may constrain growth; and the role of family rituals. Broad and pluralistic in scope, the volume invites clinicians to examine their own relationship to spirituality and imparts essential knowledge and skills for working with clients of diverse faiths.

Author Biography

Froma Walsh, MSW, PhD, is a professor in the School of Social Service Administration and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago. She is also a codirector of the University-affiliated family therapy training institute, the Chicago Center for Family Health. She is the Editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, past president of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA), recipient of AFTA's Award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice, and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. She is author of Strengthening Family Resilience and editor or coeditor of Normal Family Processes, Living Beyond Loss, and Women in Families.

Table of Contents

PART I Overview
Religion and Spirituality: Wellsprings for Healing and Resilience	3	(25)
Froma Walsh
Opening Family Therapy to Spirituality	28	(33)
Froma Walsh
PART II Spiritual Resources in Families: Tapping into the Wellsprings
Spirituality, Suffering, and Beliefs: The Soul of Healing with Families	61	(15)
Lorraine M. Wright
The Stresses of Poverty and the Comfort of Spirituality	76	(14)
Harry J. Aponte
Spirituality and Religion: Implications for Psychotherapy with African American Clients and Families	90	(14)
Nancy Boyd-Franklin
Tonya Walker Lockwood
Religion and Spiritual Folk Traditions in Immigrant Families: Therapeutic Resources with Latinos	104	(17)
Celia Jaes Falicov
Three Spiritual Perspectives on Resilience: Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism	121	(15)
Steven J. Wolin
Wayne Muller
Fred Taylor
Sybil Wolin
``Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother'': Intergenerational Spirituality and Jewish Tradition	136	(21)
Mona DeKoven Fishbane
Feet Planted Firmly in Midair: A Spirituality for Family Living	157	(22)
Herbert Anderson
PART III Spirituality and Family Therapy: Bridging the Divide
Morality and Spirituality in Therapy	179	(14)
William J. Doherty
Healing from Trauma: The Quest for Spirituality	193	(16)
Mary Jo Barrett
Opening Therapy to Conversations with a Personal God	209	(14)
Melissa Elliott Griffith
Releasing the Soul: Psychotherapy as a Spiritual Practice	223	(17)
Richard C. Schwartz
Stretching to Meet What's Given: Opportunities for a Spiritual Practice	240	(16)
Kathy Weingarten
Heart and Soul: Spirituality, Religion, and Rituals in Family Therapy Training	256	(16)
Janine Roberts
Spirituality Expressed in Community Action and Social Justice: A Therapeutic Means to Liberation and Hope	272	(21)
Alice de V. Perry
John S. Rolland
Index	293