Therapist self-awareness of spirituality.

Abstract

I want to beg you as much as I can ... to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves.... Do not now seek answers which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.-Rainer Maria RilkeIn a multicultural and pluralistic world, therapists have the opportunity to work with clients from myriad backgrounds. Many of those clients have significant spiritual or religious components in their self-understanding and expect therapists to respect, if not directly address, those concems. Therapists, too, bring their cultural perspectives and personal history of spirituality and religion into the therapeutic setting. The more they are aware of their stance vis-a-vis spirituality and religion, including both positive and negative associations, the better prepared therapists wiU be in serving clients for whom these issues are paramount. The purpose of this chapter is to help therapists to discover the impediments to working with clients' spiritual and religious issues and to become aware of their worldviews and their values toward and experiences of spirituality and religion. COMMON IMPEDIMENTS TO WORKING WITH CLIENTS' SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS ISSUESEven after acknowledging one's spiritual and religious heritage and how it impinges on present professional practice, therapists may encounter potential barriers to working effectively with clients for whom spirituality 53

Religion and spirituality in psychotherapy: a practice‐friendly review of research

“…In a spiritual autobiography, therapists can explore the education, experiences, and events that have led them to their present spirituality. Wiggins (2008) suggests using not only narrative prose to tell the story of one's spiritually and religious history, but also spiritual family genograms that chronicle the religious/spiritual beliefs, commitments, and experiences of one's extended family.…”

“…Awareness of one's own beliefs and biases regarding religion/spirituality will help therapists avoid imposing their own values on their clients. One method for exploring one's own spiritual ideas and values is to write a spiritual autobiography (Wiggins, 2008). In a spiritual autobiography, therapists can explore the education, experiences, and events that have led them to their present spirituality.…”

God in the process: Is there a place for religion in conflict resolution?

“…From a therapist's perspective, the incentive to explore this is that this Is There a Place for Religion in Conflict Resolution? 385 knowledge may serve to increase trust between the client and therapist; therapists may also gain a greater understanding of how their clients make meaning of their lives and what type of interventions may help them (Wiggins, 2008). This is equally true in our field.…”

Using Spiritual Genograms in Family Therapies

“…Spiritual genograms also offer an assessment method that emphasizes the spiritual and religious strengths that may be present in the client's family that show how the spiritual dynamics in those past experiences affect current spiritual life (Hodge, 2001). Wiggins (2008) suggested that an individual's spiritual and religious history must not be told merely as a story. Instead, spiritual genograms that tell the spiritual and religious beliefs, lives, and experiences of the individual's extended family should be used.…”