This study examined the effectiveness of a religiously-based, object relations oriented psychotherapy treatment program. Effectiveness was measured by changes in personal adjustment and God image for a group of religious patients. An inpatient sample (N = 99), with the predominant diagnosis of major depression, was followed over the course of inpatient treatment and a year of outpatient treatment following hospitalization. Measures were administered at admission and discharge (N = 99), six months after discharge (n = 67), and 12 months after discharge (n = 30). The correlation of God image to object relations development was also examined. Inpatient treatment was found to have a significant positive impact on personal adjustment and God image. Improvement was maintained over the course of outpatient treatment but no significant further improvement was noted. Significant correlations were found among the measures at all four time points. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Due to recent changes within the field of psychology, namely, the inclusion of religion as a human difference within the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, as well as the inclusion of “Religious or Spiritual Problem” as a V-code in the DSM-IV, the understanding and effective treatment of people of faith has been elevated as a clinical issue. Measures of religious dimensions and spirituality can be very helpful in working with religious clients. Numerous instruments measuring a variety of religious dimensions are available for research and clinical use. The authors offer a review of selected instruments which have been developed to measure a variety of religious variables, and to be used particularly with Christian clients. The instruments are evaluated for both psychometric soundness and clinical utility. Strengths and weaknesses are noted and suggestions for future research are provided.

We report findings from a controlled, manualized 10-week group-based spiritual intervention designed to improve God images, attachment to God, and narrative identity, using primarily narrative and experiential interventions. Participants were 61 Christian adults (n ϭ 32 intervention, n ϭ 29 matched controls) from the student population of 2 faith-based universities. Quantitative results (including data from self-report measures and quantified data from God-representation figure drawings) yielded nonsignificant findings. However, in posttest journal entries and during debriefing interviews, intervention participants reported experiencing positive changes in God images, God attachment, and narrative identity. These discrepant results are

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As medical technology continues increasing the possibility of living a longer life, the public's valuing of these developments must be considered. This study examines attitudes toward extending the human life span within a student population at a Christian university. Religious factors were hypothesized to affect life extension desirability. Scores on measures of willingness to defer to God's will, meaning derived from religion, positive afterlife beliefs, and intrinsic religiosity were significantly and inversely related to life extension desirability. Implications of these findings are discussed, including encouraging medical practitioners to respect decision-making processes of religious persons who may find life extension interventions undesirable.