Integrating Spirituality with Psychology

Integrating Spirituality with Psychology

Life’s difficulties can often bring a person’s sense of religion and spirituality to the surface. As a psychotherapist I welcome the exploration of these dimensions as a profound resource that can potentially be tapped to promote psychological well being.

Some definitions:

Religion has been defined by Dew and colleagues (2008) as an “organized system of beliefs, rituals, practices, and community, oriented toward the sacred” (p. 382). Religion tends to focus on formal organizations with specifically defined and widely accepted beliefs, practices, and traditions.

Spirituality, in contrast, can be thought of as a “search for the sacred, a process through which people seek to discover, hold on to, and, when necessary, transform whatever they hold sacred in their lives” (Hill & Pargament, 2008, p. 4). This can be a very private experience and need not be part of experiences in organized religion. But, one can be religious but not spiritual, spiritual but not religious, neither religious nor spiritual, or both spiritual and religious.

In my 35 years of experience as a psychotherapist, I have gained knowledge and awareness of diverse approaches to religion and spirituality as well knowledge about cultural differences. I create a safe and respectful place for you to talk about religion/spiritual issues and beliefs as they touch on your psychological concerns. An important purpose of knowledge regarding the role in your religious and/or spiritual beliefs is that it improves my ability to see you and understand what supports you. Counselor ethics dictate that the client, not the therapist, sets the tone for discussing religious and spiritual concerns. Together we can see where these elements may be helpful in giving you a deeply rooted sense of direction and support for your psychological healing.

Other services provided:

• Mind-body relationship
• Mystical experiences
• Religious experiences
• Spiritual experiences outside medical model
• Spiritual Crisis
• Spiritual Emergency
• Spiritual Emergence
• Near Death Experiences

Learn More :
What is Mindfulness Therapy?
Relaxation Techniques for Stress Relief
Workshop: Breathe Your Way to Better Health