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

This volume guides therapists and students in exploring the creative and healing possibilities in people's spiritual and religious experience, while countering ways it can do harm. The authors integrate ideas from a range of therapeutic perspectives - as well as wisdom gleaned from over 20 years of work in the field - 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. Applications are discussed for a wide variety of clinical situations, including helping people resolve relationship problems, manage psychiatric symptoms, and cope with medical illness.

James L. Griffith, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at The George Washington University Medical Center Melissa Elliott Griffith, CNS, LMFT, serves on the psychiatry clinical faculty at The George Washington University Medical Center and practices psychotherapy in Vienna, Virginia