How to Integrate Spirituality in Psychotherapeutic Practice: Working with Spiritually-Minded Clients

How to Integrate Spirituality in Psychotherapeutic Practice: Working with Spiritually Minded Clients enables mental health professionals to acquire the skills they need to diagnose and treat religious or spiritually minded clients. Research and practical experience show that religion and spirituality of clients can be very important in psychotherapy. Given the great diversity in the area of religion and spirituality, it is not easy to understand the complicated interconnections between the psychological complaints and the spirituality and/or religion of a client.

By providing an understanding of various types of spirituality, as well as theory, case histories, and clinical information using DSM diagnoses, this book will help therapists to design effective interventions. It takes account of the plurality in psychotherapeutic methods, as well as in spiritual/religious views, practices, and use of terms.

How to Integrate Spirituality in Psychotherapeutic Practice is directed to a readership of practitioners who have decided to integrate the religious/spiritual dimension into their practice. It primarily addresses psychotherapists and mental health counsellors practising in general mental health residential units and day-to-day consultation clinics, as well as religious therapists, pastoral psychotherapists, pastoral counsellors, and the clergy.

Agneta Schreurs has studied social psychology, philosophy, and theology at the Universities of Utrecht and Amsterdam, The Netherlands, specializing in group analysis and group psychotherapy. She worked as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Utrecht, the VU University Amsterdam, and the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences (Zwolle), and as a group analytic psychotherapist at the Dr C. Aalders Foundation (Utrecht).