Encountering the Sacred in Psychotherapy: How to Talk with People about Their Spiritual Lives

This book explores ways to open therapy to the creative and healing possibilities in people’s spiritual and religious experience, while countering ways it can do harm. Through moving case examples, the authors demonstrate how spiritual experiences may color and illuminate the stories told in therapy, the language and metaphors used, and the meanings brought to key relationships and events. A framework is presented to help therapists listen and respond when spiritual or religious themes are invoked; ask appropriate questions about beliefs, practices, and communities; and work collaboratively to identify personally meaningful resources for change. Ideal for all clinicians, regardless of religious, spiritual, or theoretical orientation, the book emphasizes the need to honor the language, ideas, and traditions that each individual brings to the therapeutic setting.