Spirituality and Therapy

One recent change I have noted since I began in psychology in 1991 is that the openness to and even basic awareness of the role that "spirituality" plays has grown very considerably in the last decade or so. A book just released this week will continue to break down the once-traditional hostility between psychology (especially psychoanalysis) and religious and spiritual practices and traditions: 
Spirituality in Mental Health Practice: A Narrative Casebook, eds.,Miriam Jaffe, Widian Nicola, Jerry Floersch and Jeffrey Longhofer (Routledge, 2020), 226pp. 

 About this book the publisher tells us this:

 This key text presents an accessible and diverse exploration of spirituality in mental health practice, broadening the definition of spirituality to comprise a variety of transcendent experiences.

 Chapters include a brief history of the tensions of spirituality in mental health practice and consider a range of emerging topics, from spirituality among the elderly and energy work (Reiki), to spirituality in addiction recovery, incarceration, and hospice work. The book offers a close examination of the limits of the medical model of care, making a case for a more spiritually sensitive practice. Rich case examples are woven throughout, and the book is paired with podcasts that can be applied across chapters, illuminating the narrative stories and building active listening and teaching skills. Suitable for students of social work and counseling at master's level, as well as practicing clinicians, Spirituality in Mental Health Practice is an essential text for widening our understanding of how spiritual frameworks can enrich mental health practice.

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