What is Spiritual Therapy? Spiritual therapy is a method of intentionally exploring problems and conflicts from a spiritual perspective. It is a way to explore your own spiritual beliefs, ideas, values and conflicts in a safe and non-judgmental environment. It can be a way to align your behavior, thoughts and feelings with your values or a way to use your spiritual beliefs to work through struggles. It can also be a safe place to question certain beliefs, work through spiritual crisis and heal from spiritual wounds.
What does Spiritual Therapy look like? Spiritual Therapy will be different for every person and couple based on your unique set of values, background and goals for therapy. There is no exact formula. However, questionnaires and other assessment tools may be used to make sessions more effective.
Who is Spiritual Therapy appropriate for? Spiritual Therapy is appropriate for anyone who wants to incorporate an exploration of spiritual or religious beliefs, ideas and/or values into their therapy sessions.
Can Spiritual Therapy be used with other types of therapy? Absolutely. Spiritual Therapy can be combined with other therapeutic interventions to address symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, relationship problems and many more.
Is Spiritual Therapy tied to a certain religious tradition? No. Spiritual Therapy is an exploration of your spiritual experiences, conflicts, beliefs and values. As a therapist, I respect clients’ spiritual orientations and do not intentionally influence clients toward certain spiritual or religious beliefs.
What if I want to know more about a certain religious or spiritual tradition? Spiritual Therapy is not a means of gathering information about religious traditions. If you are interested in exploring a certain religious or spiritual tradition in depth, I can refer you to religious/spiritual leaders and institutions in the community.
Can Spiritual Therapy be combined with Couples Therapy? Yes. Spiritual Therapy is one way to explore values and beliefs between partners. Partners with different beliefs may work on overcoming obstacles that those differences create or use one another’s beliefs as strengths toward meeting therapy goals. Partners with similar beliefs may work toward goals by using those beliefs as a guideline.