Abstract
From its psychoanalytic beginnings, therapy training has emphasized the crucial role the self of the therapist plays in the effectiveness of therapy. Attention initially focused on therapists' personal history and vulnerabilities and later included an exploration of their relationship style. Less emphasis has been placed on analyzing therapists' belief and meaning systems which inescapably influence their clinical conceptualizations, attitudes, and behaviors. This article defines spirituality as attributions of a personal nature which give meaning to life events, help transcend difficult experiences, maintain hopefulness, and lead to behaviors which honor connectedness and proposes a rationale for including the spiritual dimension in therapy and therapy training and steps graduate training programs and supervisors may take to raise therapists' spiritual understandings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Anthony, M. (1993). The relationship between marital satisfaction and religious maturity. Religious Education, 88, 97–108.
Aponte, H.J. (1996). Political bias, moral values, and spirituality in the training of psychotherapists. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 60(4), 488–502.
Ballou, M. (1995). Women and spirit: Two nonfits in psychology. Women and Therapy: A Feminist Quarterly, 16(2/3), 9–20.
Becvar, D. S. (1997). Soul healing: A spiritual orientation in counseling and therapy. New York: Basic Books.
Bergin, A. E. (1991). Values and religious issues in psychotherapy and mental health. American Psychologist, 46, 394–403.
Bergin, A. E., & Jensen, J. P. (1990). Religiosity of psychotherapists: A national survey. Psychotherapy, 27, 2–7.
Butler, M. H., & Harper, J. M. (1994). The divine triangle: God in the marital system of religious couples. Family Process, 33, 277–286.
Diaz, D. P. (1993). Foundations for spirituality: Establishing the viability of spirituality within the health disciplines. Journal of Health Education, 24(6), 324–326.
Doherty, W. J. (1995). Soul searching: Why psychotherapy must promote moral responsibility. New York: Basic Books.
Elkins, D. (1995). Psychotherapy and spirituality: Toward a theory of the soul. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 35(2), 78–98.
Frank, J. (1974). Persuasion and healing. New York: Schocken.
Gallup, G. (1990). Religion in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Religious Research Center.
Giblin, P. (1996). Spirituality, marriage, and family. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 4(1), 46–52.
Glaser, B., & Kirschenbaum, H. (1980). Using values clarification in counseling settings. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 58, 569–574.
Grimm, D. W. (1994). Therapist spiritual and religious values in psychotherapy. Counseling and Values, 38, 154–164
Haley, J. (1976). Problem-solving therapy. New York: Harper Colophon.
Haug, I. E. (1998). Including a spiritual dimension in therapy: Ethical considerations. Contemporary Family Therapy, 20, 181–194.
Koenig, H. G., George, L. K., Meador, K. G., Blazer, D. G., & Dyck, P. B. (1994). Religious affiliation and psychiatric disorder among Protestant baby boomers. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 45(6), 586–596.
Lambert, M. J., Shapiro, D. A., & Bergin, A. E. (1986). The effectiveness of psychotherapy. In S. L. Garfield & A. E. Bergin (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (3rd ed.) (pp. 157–211). New York: Wiley.
MacKinnon, D., Helmeke, K., & Stander, V. (1994). Integrating spirituality and religion in family therapy. Workshop presented at the 52nd Annual Conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Chicago, IL.
Miller, S. D., Duncan, B. L., & Hubble, M. A. (1997). Escape from Babel: Toward a unifying language for psychotherapy practice. New York: Norton.
Prest, L. & Keller, J. F., (1993). Spirituality and family therapy: Spiritual beliefs, myths, and metaphors. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 19(2), 137–148.
Shafranske, E. P. & Gorsuch, R. L. (1984). Factors associated with the perception of spirituality in psychotherapy. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 16(2), 231–241.
Shafranske, E. P. & Malony, H. N. (1990). Clinical psychologists' religious and spiritual orientations and their practice of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 27(1), 72–78.
Sheridan, M. J., Wilmer, C. M., & Atcheson, L. (1994). Inclusion of content on religion and spirituality in the social work curriculum: A study of faculty views. Journal of Social Work Education, 30(3), 363–376.
Stander, V., Piercy, F. P., MacKinnon, D., & Helmeke, K. (1994). Spirituality, religion, and family therapy: Competing or complementary worlds? The American Journal of Family Therapy, 22(1), 27–41.
Walters, W. (1992). Deadly doctrine: Health, illness, and Christian God talk. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J., & Jackson, D. (1967). The pragmatics of human communication. New York: Norton.
Yalom, I. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Haug, I.E. Spirituality as a Dimension of Family Therapists' Clinical Training. Contemporary Family Therapy 20, 471–483 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021628132514
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021628132514