Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry

Integrating Spiritual Issues into Therapy 259Table 17.2: Overview of Spiritual Activities/Offerings for Patients in Addition to Their StandardTreatment Program. Bars Illustrate Patient’s Appreciation of the Activity/Offering (from Leftto Right: “It Helped M e a Lot,” “It Helped Me Quite a Bit,” “It Helped Me Some,” “It Didn’tHelp Me.”)Activity/offering Description/focus Duration/ frequency EvaluationPsycho-educational groupmeetingsSpiritual singing and musicgroupSpiritual issues discussiongroupSpiritual art therapyIntegrating therapeutic andspiritual issues, focus on copingwith life and mental illnessSinging spiritual songs, listeningto spiritual music, recitingprayersDiscussing upcoming spiritualissues in an open group setting,led by a pastoral counselor,including religious ritualsExpressing spiritual topics in arttherapy, e.g., creation, self-imageand God image, psalms1 hour, 4x/week1 hour, 1x/week no evaluation1 hour, 1x/week new activity/offering1–2 hours weeklySpiritual counseling andpsychotherapyIntegrating spiritualelements into counseling andpsychotherapy, e.g., forgivingmyself/others, individual prayersindividualPastoral careIndividual pastoral counseling,delivering rituals andsacraments, anointing of the sick,Lord’s supperindividualPatient LibraryContaining a broad range ofreligious and spiritual books1–2x/weekno evaluation■■Working toward forgiveness in difficultrelationshipsBeing more aware of God’s presence and guidancein daily lifeSpiritual needs and treatment goals are discussedin the therapeutic team, of which thepastoral counselor is a ordinary member. Wethen evaluate the best way to meet these needsand to help the patient attain his treatmentgoals. We also verify whether the spiritual goalsare in line (don’t conflict) with the other treatmentgoals. Spirituality can be a way of escapingfrom reality, which we would not support in thetherapeutic context.For many years we have been offering psycho-educationalgroup meetings focusing on theintegration of therapeutic and spiritual aspectsand emphasizing the benefit and importance ofreligious and spiritual coping (see Table 17.2 ).( 11 , 20 , 49 , 70 )Typical topics of these interactive group meetingsare:■■■Developing life perspectives despite illnessand limitationsCoping with fear and depression; listening tothe Book of PsalmsAttaining personhood, spiritual identity (“Icalled you by your name”)