From a leading researcher and practitioner, this volume provides an innovative framework for understanding the role of spirituality in people’s lives and its relevance to the work done in psychotherapy. It offers fresh, practical ideas for creating a spiritual dialogue with clients, assessing spirituality as a part of their problems and solutions, and helping them draw on spiritual resources in times of stress. Written from a nonsectarian perspective, the book encompasses both traditional and nontraditional forms of spirituality. It is grounded in current findings from psychotherapy research and the psychology of religion, and includes a wealth of evocative case material.
"Kudos! In the best tradition of William James, Pargament highlights the role of spirituality in the lives of clients and psychotherapists and critically examines the assessment and treatment implications. Drawing on research and clinical examples, he describes important and often overlooked ways that attention to spirituality can be integrated into psychotherapy. This book should be of interest to both the novice and seasoned psychotherapist, and will also challenge practitioners and educators in other domains to consider when and how to address issues of spirituality. This is an important book that should stimulate much debate."–Donald Meichenbaum, PhD, Department of Psychology (Emeritus), University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
"From one of our foremost thinkers in psychology and religion, this book provides an up-to-the minute, spiritually informed approach to helping people. The strength of the book is its general applicability for most clients who are spiritually attuned. It is the best available resource of its kind for practicing therapists, and would be a great supplemental text for psychotherapy courses. Easy reading–brilliant thinking."–Everett L. Worthington, Jr., PhD, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
"A remarkable combination of clinical acumen and spiritual sensitivity–there is nothing like it in the literature. This book is clearly the work of a mature clinician with a wide range of experiences to draw upon. It offers a wonderful balance of the theoretical and the practical, is genuinely ecumenical and open in its orientation, and is approachable by members of any religious community (or no religious community). Psychotherapists of all persuasions will welcome this book, and it would be an ideal text for any course in spirituality and psychotherapy or pastoral counseling."–James W. Jones, PsyD, PhD, Department of Religion, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
"Exceptional. Pargament offers a sweeping, well-balanced view of spirituality from a clinical perspective, without reducing spirituality to psychology. Through a clear command of existing theory and research, compelling clinical vignettes, wonderful quotations, practical recommendations, and his own gracious therapeutic attitude, Pargament gently reminds the reader that spirituality is a legitimate–often pivotal–dimension of clinical practice. He has 'done the work' for the rest of us who may wonder how to address spirituality within a professional context. Clinicians at all levels of experience will grow by reading, and rereading, this book."–Christopher Germer, PhD, private practice, Arlington, Massachusetts
"What is spirituality, as distinct from religiousness? What is its impact on our lives? Are there psychological approaches that incorporate the client's spiritual values and yearnings? Are these approaches effective? Free of jargon and accessible to all mental health professionals, this volume speaks with clarity, sympathy, and wisdom that make it hard to put down. As a therapist, Pargament interweaves the text with delightful clinical vignettes; as a researcher, he explains the studies on spirituality in everyday life and in therapy in a most compelling way. This book is a wake-up call to the mental health profession."–David Greenberg, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Herzog Hospital, and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
"This is a book for psychotherapists who take spirituality seriously–their own and that of their clients–and who want to include it in their scope of practice as helpers. In clear prose and with many illustrative case examples, Pargament addresses practical issues of providing spiritually integrated therapy and counseling. He cogently argues that spirituality cannot truly be separated from psychotherapy; to practice without considering this vital dimension of human nature is to risk missing, misunderstanding, and mishandling fundamental struggles of the inner life."–William R. Miller, PhD, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, (Emeritus), University of New Mexico
Kenneth I. Pargament, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Bowling Green State University, where he has been on the faculty since 1979. He has published extensively on the vital role of religion and spirituality in coping with stress and trauma. Dr. Pargament has been a leading figure in the effort to bring a balanced view of religion and spirituality to the attention of scientists and professionals. He is a recipient of the William James Award for excellence in research in the psychology of religion, the Virginia Staudt Sexton Mentoring Award for guiding and encouraging others in the field, and the Oskar Pfister Award for his research and practice in religion and mental health. Dr. Pargament is a practicing clinical psychologist who has worked with people from diverse spiritual backgrounds. In 2011-2012, he will serve as Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Institute for Spirituality and Health of the Texas Medical Center in Houston.
I. Introduction1. A Rationale for a Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy
II. Understanding the Sacred2. Spirituality: The Sacred Domain
3. Discovering the Sacred
4. Holding On to the Sacred
5. In Times of Stress: Spiritual Coping to Conserve the Sacred
6. In Times of Stress: Spiritual Coping to Transform the Sacred
7. Problems of Spiritual Destinations
8. Problems of Spiritual Pathways
III. Addressing the Sacred9. An Orientation to Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy
10. Initial and Implicit Spiritual Assessment
11. Explicit Spiritual Assessment
12. Drawing on Spiritual Strivings, Knowledge, and Experience
13. Drawing on Spiritual Practices, Relationships, and Coping Methods
14. Addressing Problems of Spiritual Destinations
15. Addressing Problems of Spiritual Pathways
IV. Conclusions16. Steps toward a More Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy
Psychotherapists from a range of backgrounds, including clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, and counselors; students in these areas. May serve as a text in graduate-level courses in spirituality and psychotherapy, pastoral counseling, and psychology of religion.
“The author has put together a theory that integrates spirituality with psychotherapy that can help inform both students and practitioners interested in this still-emerging area of practice. As such, this text will likely prove useful to students and practitioners alike.”
“A remarkable book….One thing is certain—many people today want spiritually sensitive help, and psychotherapists need a framework that enables them to provide that help. Pargament gives us the framework, taking willing readers on a journey that leads to a deeper understanding of spirituality and the domain of the sacred. Pargament has a knack for articulating the ineffable….Contains rich and robust clinical examples, and Pargament is not shy in sharing with us how he has grown with his clients and what he has learned from them.”
“[Pargament] provides a rationale for psychologically understanding the role of the sacred in the lives of clients. He details ways that spirituality can be of invaluable help in a client’s psychological struggles. He also describes many ways that a stunted and stagnant spirituality needs to be addressed as it contributes to a client’s psychological despair. Next, Pargament discusses ways of addressing spirituality in psychotherapy….The volume is filled with concrete and practical examples that clearly illustrate Pargament’s concepts….This volume is important and well timed….Illuminates the ways that psychotherapy ultimately is a journey into the mystery of the other. In this regard, the book is filled with wisdom. Both experienced clinicians and novice therapists would benefit from its contents.”
