The Crossroads of Spirituality & Psychotherapy
There is much dialogue on the intersection of spirituality and psychotherapy. Because of changes in the religious and social landscape, conversations are focusing on the shared features of both disciplines. These include transformation of consciousness, reckoning with structures of meaning-making and power, and wrestling with received images of God.
The Institute is engaging in, and encouraging, these conversations, with community education courses, book discussions, and more – to show how these two important disciplines overlap in addressing the inner life of individuals. In fact, there is much in the emerging literature and research that bears this out. For example, the recent work on neurotheology shows the ways in which brain structure is favorably transformed as a result of such meditative practices as centering prayer. These findings are similar to what psychotherapists and neuropsychoanalysts are discovering about the beneficial changes in brain functioning that result from psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.
In our era there is an increasing trend toward a transdisciplinary approach to the perennial questions that accompany the human journey. As a result of this trend, psychotherapists often find spiritual and religious issues emerging in clinical treatment encounters as clients seek an integrative approach to their struggles. It is essential to address these overlapping issues in order to understand how a client’s religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, and background are featuring in their attempts to transform internal barriers leading to the achievement of a more cohesive and optimal inner life.
