Rev. Dr. John Hagedorn reviews

Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy,
Understanding and Addressing the Sacred

I was encouraged by the title of this book and by some of the collaborations mentioned in the Preface, specifically the faculty and graduate students in The Counseling Psychology and Religion Program in the School of Theology at Boston University where I had received my Ph.D., and by reference to the pastoral counseling department at Iliff School of Theology. I thought this would be a book that integrated the ministry of pastoral counseling and chaplaincy into the field of psychotherapy.

The author states in the Preface that he has been looking for a perspective that could lend unity to theory, research, and clinical practice in the area of spiritually integrated psychotherapy. He begins with the question “What are the roles that religion and spirituality play in the process of coping?” He notes sadly only 18% of counseling psychology training programs offer a course on religion or spirituality as they prepare students to enter the world of psychotherapy.

To give a framework to his work he defines spirituality as “a search for the sacred”. The first half of the book presents a theory to understand the sacred. How does one discover the sacred in their life? How does one hold on it, cope with it to conserve it in times of stress, and struggle with it as it transforms? He investigates the problems of spiritual destinations and pathways and their effect upon ones search for the sacred.

The second half of the book addresses the sacred in psychotherapy. He looks for an orientation on the part of the therapist that can allow for the entrance of the sacred into the therapy session. He discusses both an initial and implicit spiritual assessment as well as a more explicit assessment. He suggests that the therapist learn to draw on the client’s spiritual strivings, knowledge, experience, practices, relationships and coping methods to enhance personal growth.

I found the final chapter challenging the field by addressing the need to demonstrate the effectiveness of spiritually integrated therapy in contrast to other therapies, to develop training programs in spiritually integrated therapy, and to extend the reach of spiritually integrated psychotherapy.

I was disappointed that the ministries of chaplaincy and pastoral counseling were not more thoroughly explored by the author. It is my feeling that those of us in these fields have been doing the work of integrating spiritually and psychotherapy for years. I agree with the author that we have not done our best to document what we do with academic research or even to develop a clear theory of what we do. I was intrigued by his idea that the religious identity of the therapist does not necessarily determine the spiritual openness or integration of the therapy.

The author has done a service by looking at spiritually integrated psychotherapy through the academic and research orientations. He makes a statement about spirituality and then immediately presents a research project that supports his statement. In reading the footnotes it is apparent that many of these research studies have been done by himself or by his doctoral studies. I admire his detailed examination of the process. In one chapter he lists numerous tests that have been developed to look at some aspect of spirituality and to assess it in a particular population. I was somewhat amazed at the number of such tests available.

If you are looking for a clear academic overview of spiritually integrated psychotherapy this is the book for you. If you are looking for life and passion of spirituality in the ministries we do you might be disappointed.

Kenneth I. Pargament, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy, Understanding and Addressing the Sacred, The Guilford Press, New York, 2007, 384 pp.

Do you have thoughts about this review you’d like to share with your colleagues? Send an e-mail to info@PlainViews.org