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Counseling and Psychotherapy Within and Across Faith Traditions
Abstract
Postmaterial spiritual psychology posits that consciousness can contribute to the unfolding of material events and that the human brain can detect broad, non-material communications. In this regard, this emerging field of postmaterial psychology marks a stark departure from psychology's traditional quantum measurements and tenets. The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality codifies the leading empirical evidence in the support and application of postmaterial psychological science. Sections in this volume include: personality and social psychology factors and implications; spiritual development and culture; spiritual dialogue, prayer, and intention in Western mental health; Eastern traditions and psychology; physical health and spirituality; positive psychology; and scientific advances and applications related to spiritual psychology. With articles from leading scholars in psychology, medicine, physics, and biology, this text is an interdisciplinary reference for a rapidly emerging approach to contemporary science.
... SIP has been practiced in some form for centuries by shamans, faith leaders, innovative psychiatrists, and psychologists such as Jung (1967) and Maslow (1968). SIP acknowledges the interconnectedness of mind, body, emotions, and spirit which is the focus of transpersonal (transcendent dimensions of human experience) theory (Dwight, 2011;Fowler, 1981;McMinn et al., 2012;Moon, 2002;Pargament, 1997Pargament, , 2013Russell, 1921Russell, , 1949Sundararajan, 2011;Wulff, 1997). ...
As clinicians, we find ourselves in the role of helping others and collectively we have the systemic power to help improve the health and well-being of our communities through our clinical work and the inherited admonition to ‘do no harm.’ This help includes the support of life-changing and potentially life altering experiences that have the potential to change an individual’s worldview (Brook, 2017; Harris, 2018). Individually and as a society, we are moving forward into a new health and wellness paradigm never seen in human history (Johnson & Armour, 2018). At this time, there is a deeper understanding within the clinical community that we must rise to meet the needs of our clients. The new vision of clinical work is a more comprehensive view that includes the practice of a global psychotherapy that supports indigenous beliefs and practices honoring the emic ‘voices’ of indigenous knowledge of self, well-being, and spirituality while considering clinically proven methods of understanding behavior and health. The purpose of this compendium is to explore the intersection between spiritual and mental health experiences, to bring light to how the two are often confused by healthcare providers, and to provide clinicians with alternative models for treatment.
This compendium supports competent clinical psychotherapy treatment that imparts the spiritual/religious/transpersonal (S/R/T) beliefs and practices of clients (Barnett, 2016). Therefore, understanding a client’s symptoms (e.g., cultural, spiritual, or religious) is important to developing competence in the delivery of effective and ethical clinical care (Barnett, 2016; Frisby, 2018; Hodge, 2018). Spiritual emergence (SE) and spiritual emergency SE(y) are categorized throughout this compendium under the broad term’s spiritual, religious, and transpersonal (S/R/T) experiences. In some cases, reference to spiritual emergence (e.g., SE) or spiritual emergency SE(y) will be used to specify a particular type of experience, and other times spiritual, religious, or transpersonal (i.e., S/R/T) will be used to define broader categories of spiritual emergence.
... SIP has been practiced in some form for centuries by shamans, faith leaders, innovative psychiatrists, and psychologists such as Jung (1967) and Maslow (1968). SIP acknowledges the interconnectedness of mind, body, emotions, and spirit which is the focus of transpersonal (transcendent dimensions of human experience) theory (Dwight, 2011;Fowler, 1981;McMinn et al., 2012;Moon, 2002;Pargament, 1997Pargament, , 2013Russell, 1921Russell, , 1949Sundararajan, 2011;Wulff, 1997). ...
... Einige Studien und Meta-Analysen zeigen, dass Psychotherapie mit R/S-integrierten Modulen mindestens ebenso wirksam ist wie die säkulare Psychotherapie (Worthington et al. 2011, McMinn et al. 2012Pfeifer 2018;Willberg 2019;Mangelsdorf 2020;Dilger und Schnepf 2020;Vogel 2020). ...
... Supervisors can learn the difference between various major world religions and spiritual systems through continuing education courses, professional conferences, or enrollment in a world religion survey course (Berkel et al., 2007). Supervisors also develop competency through collaboration and consultation with appropriate religious leaders (McMinn, Snow, & Orton, 2012). It is interesting that the religious and spiritual competency of supervisors may be related to their own religious and spiritual development (Johns, 2017). ...
This article is based on the 2nd‐place winning entry to the 2016–2017 American Counseling Association Graduate Student Ethics Competition and includes a fictional case study of a counselor trainee whose personal beliefs conflict with her client's goals, and of her doctoral supervisor who is reticent to seek consultation. The counselor values‐based conflict model (Kocet & Herlihy, 2014) is used to generate an ethical resolution for the dilemma. Implications for counselors, supervisors, and counselor educators are discussed.
... Spiritual/religious interventions have been accommodated in a variety of psychotherapy treatments including CBT (Barrera, Zeno, Bush, Barber, & Stanley, 2012;McMinn, Snow, & Orton, 2012;Pearce et al., 2014), and trauma focused therapy (Decker, 2007). A S/R intervention may include discussion around specific issues such as faith, purpose, and meaning (Pargament & Saunders, 2007), and exercises relevant to client's beliefs and practices. ...
Kennedy, G. A., Macnab, F. A. & Ross, J. J. (2015), The effectiveness of spiritual/religious interventions in psychotherapy and counselling: a review of the recent literature. Melbourne: PACFA.
A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy, Second Edition shows mental health professionals how to deal sensitively with clients whose spirituality or religion is an important part of their lives. This book highlights the therapeutic possibilities religion and spirituality can offer. Building on the success of the first edition, the new edition provides timely updates and additional theoretical grounding for integrating a theistic, spiritual strategy into mainstream psychology. Also ideal for students and scholars, this book provides helpful background and insight into the history and philosophy of science and psychology, the world religions, the practice of psychotherapy, and the process of research and scientific discovery.
A causal model was proposed in which the relationship between intrinsic religiousness and psychosocial competence is mediated by religious coping styles. The model asserts that the correlation between intrinsic religiousness and competence is suppressed due to differential mediation by collaborative and deferring religious coping styles. A covariance structure analysis using LISREL was utilized to test the model. A nested model comparison was conducted to assess the possible effects of two response bias variables: indiscriminate proreligiousness and social desirability. Multiple paper-and-pencil measures of all the variables except the response biases were included in a survey administered to church attenders chosen from the mailing list of two midwestern churches through a stratified, random sampling procedure. A total sample of 108 was obtained. The covariance structure analysis provided support for the validity of the measures. The nested model comparison failed to support the importance of response bias for explaining the relationships between the religiousness and competence variables. Substantial support was obtained for the inconsistent mediation hypothesis.
Religious or Spiritual Problem is a new diagnostic category (Code V62.89) in the 1994 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Although the acceptance of this new category was based on a proposal documenting the extensive literature on the frequent occurrence of religious and spiritual issues in clinical practice, the impetus for the proposal came from transpersonal clinicians whose initial focus was on spiritual emergencies-forms of distress associated with spiritual practices and experiences. The proposal grew out of the work of the Spiritual Emergence Network to increase the competence of mental health professionals in sensitivity to such spiritual issues. This article describes the rationale for this new category, the history of the proposal, transpersonal perspectives on spiritual emergency, types of religious and spiritual problems, differential diagnostic issues, psychotherapeutic approaches, and the likely increase in number of persons seeking therapy for spiritual problems. It also presents the preliminary findings from a database of religious and spiritual problems.
Future and current psychologists may find themselves baffled when confronted with the diversity of religious and spiritual backgrounds of their clients. Few psychologists have received professional training with regard to religion and spirituality, despite the public's overwhelming interest. Currently, the topic of religion/spirituality is being covered to some degree in most accredited clinical programs. However, a distinct minority of these programs approach this education and training in a systematic fashion, whereas other programs report no educational or training opportunities in this area. Several recommendations are made for training programs, which are encouraged to increase their sensitivity to this topic, provide more opportunities for student growth in this area, and incorporate religious and spiritual issues into course work.
A meta-analysis of data from 42 independent samples examining the association of a measure of religious involvement and all-cause mortality is reported. Religious involvement was significantly associated with lower mortality (odds ratio = 1.29; 95% confidence interval: 1.20–1.39), indicating that people high in religious involvement were more likely to be alive at follow-up than people lower in religious involvement. Although the strength of the religious involvement–mortality association varied as a function of several moderator variables, the association of religious involvement and mortality was robust and on the order of magnitude that has come to be expected for psychosocial factors. Conclusions did not appear to be due to publication bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Despite the increasing attention being given to clergy–psychologist collaboration, many psychologists may wonder what clergy–psychologist collaboration looks like in actual practice. The authors describe an example of clergy–psychologist collaboration involving a careful needs-assessment phase followed by the development of a wide spectrum of preventive, consultative, and direct services. Current challenges include funding, establishment of trust, and the integration of psychology and spirituality. Implications for professional psychologists are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The present meta-analysis examined data from 5 studies (
N = 111) that compared the efficacy of standard approaches to counseling for depression with religion-accommodative approaches. There was no evidence that the religion-accommodative approaches were more or less efficacious than the standard approaches. Findings suggest that the choice to use religious approaches with religious clients is probably more a matter of client preference than a matter of differential efficacy. However, additional research is needed to examine whether religion-accommodative approaches yield differential treatment satisfaction or differential improvements in spiritual well-being or facilitate relapse prevention. Given the importance of religion to many potential consumers of psychological services, counseling psychologists should devote greater attention to religion-accommodative counseling in future studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This chapter examines common ethical concerns arising from clinical practice with religious and spiritual issues. The authors enumerate and explore a variety of ethical concerns, as well as, reference a professional therapist's growing body of professional guidance from which to determine an ethical response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The authors conducted a study of 5,472 university students to identify the prevalence and predictors of religious and spiritual concerns. Approximately 25% of the sample reported considerable distress related to such concerns. Logistic regression analyses revealed that students with considerable distress related to religious or spiritual concerns also tended to be distressed about the loss of a relationship, sexual assault, confusion about values, homesickness, and suicidal ideation. These students were especially likely to seek psychological help when they also had problematic relationships with peers. Among all students who sought help, considerable distress about religious or spiritual concerns was predicted by confusion about values, problematic relationships with peers, sexual concerns, and thoughts of being punished for one's sins. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Some of the stories of psychologists and clergy working together have happy endings, and some do not. Twenty psychologists and clergy who work together well were interviewed, and 94 clergy (53% response rate) and 145 psychologists (76% response rate) were surveyed. A 2-tiered schema for working well with clergy is proposed. Basic collaborative qualifications, such as respect for clergy and communication with clergy as needed, should be considered minimal competence for all professional psychologists. Additional qualifications, such as awareness of religious spirituality and shared values, are necessary for more advanced forms of collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Objective: To investigate the protective and consolation models of the relationship between religion and health outcomes in medical rehabilitation patients. Design: Longitudinal study, data collected at admission, discharge, and 4 months postadmission. Measures: Religion measures were public and private religiosity, acceptance, positive and negative religious coping, and spiritual injury. Outcomes were self-report of activities of daily living (ADL), mobility, general health, depression, and life satisfaction. Participants: 96 medical rehabilitation inpatients; diagnoses included joint replacement, amputation, stroke, and other conditions. Results: The protective model of the relationship between religion and health was not supported; only limited support was found for the consolation model. In regression analyses, negative religious coping accounted for significant variance in follow-up ADL (5%) over and above that accounted for by admission ADL, depression, social support, and demographic variables. Subsequent item analysis indicated that anger with God explained more variance (9%) than the full negative religious coping scale. Conclusions: Religion did not promote better recovery or adjustment… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
With the vast majority of the U.S. population reporting allegiance to a particular faith tradition, it is important that psychologists have the experience and training to work with clients from a wide variety of religious/spiritual perspectives. In order to assess the current level of training in religion/spirituality for predoctoral interns, 139 American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited predoctoral internship sites completed a Web-based survey. Religion/spirituality is most often addressed in internship training when clients bring it up, and religion/spirituality is processed further in the context of supervision. Relatively few internship sites provide more formal training in religion/spirituality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Potential identity conflicts arising at the intersection of sexual and religious orientations are examined. Using case examples, a therapeutic process that explores clients' intersecting identities, belief structures, and life experiences is described. This therapeutic approach is aimed at giving personal meaning to the conflict between sexual orientation and religion, allowing clients to seek identity resolutions that are flexible and do not compromise well-being. Multicultural counseling, psychology of religion, symbolic interactionism, and identity development theories provide frameworks for an analysis of the nature of the conflict and its potential resolutions. Countertransference issues arising from ethical and social justice considerations are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Effects of a description of a secular counselor, empathic with spiritual concerns, were examined with regard to negative anticipations about counselors that Christians have often expressed in explaining their unwillingness to see non-Christian counselors. College student and adult participants completed a religiosity scale, read a counselor description (Christian, secular, or spiritual-empathic secular), and then completed a measure of 5 negative anticipations that Christian clients have about counselors. Effects of religiosity, type of script, and their interactions were all confirmed. Participants with higher scores on religiosity had more negative anticipations; strongest negative anticipations were held about secular counselors, less negative ones about secular but spiritually empathetic counselors, and least negative ones about Christian counselors. Differences in reactions to scripts were greater for those with higher scores on religiosity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Some psychologists may be interested in working collaboratively with clergy and yet may not know where to start. What kinds of collaborative projects are possible? A qualitative analysis of 77 narratives offered by psychologists and clergy involved in collaboration revealed that collaboration between psychologists and clergy currently takes place in at least four contexts: mental health services, parish life, community concerns, and academics. Reported obstacles to collaboration are also described. Essential attitudes for psychologists interested in collaborating with clergy include respecting clergy as professionals, willingness to venture out from traditional professional settings, and exploring innovative collaborative possibilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Self-help therapy books, cassettes, and other materials are often antiscientific and shoddy, but they also frequently have several solid advantages, help some people to make profound personality changes (with and without regular therapy), and may well effectively influence many more people in the US (and even more so throughout the world) than do professional psychotherapists. It would be preferable if self-help materials were pretested and posttested in a manner similiar to that of researching the reliability and validity of psychological tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Incorporating spirituality and religion into psychotherapy has been controversial, but recent contributions have argued the importance and provided foundations for doing so. Discussions of ethical challenges in this process are emerging, and this contribution discusses several preliminary issues, relying on the Resolution on Religious, Religion-Based and/or Religion-Derived Prejudice adopted by the American Psychological Association in 2007, as guidance when used with the American Psychological Association’s (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Specifically, this discussion of preliminary challenges addresses competence, bias, maintaining traditions and standards of psychology, and integrity in labeling services for reimbursement. Commentators deepen the discussion, addressing what constitutes minimal competence in this area; effective and truly mutual collaboration with clergy; the high level of ethical complexity and “inherent messiness” of this domain of psychological practice; and the particular challenges of demarcating the boundaries of these domains for regulatory and billing purposes. This discussion offers decidedly preliminary ideas on managing the interface of these domains. Further development is needed before this nascent area approximates precise guidelines or standards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Clients bring to therapy sessions a diverse background of spiritual beliefs and religious orientations that they perceive as valuable resources and coping skills. Yet, not all psychologists know how to address effectively these beliefs and orientations. The author uses case examples to describe his experience within the United States Air Force community gained while establishing a collaborative relationship with the clergy. Recommendations include the following: how to start the collaboration, establishing a collegial relationship, pursuing continuing education on faith factors in counseling, how to utilize pastoral counselors, marketing your respect for the clergy, and capitalizing on the value of clergy in providing continuing education to psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Empirical studies have identified significant links between religion and spirituality and health. The reasons for these associations, however, are unclear. Typically, religion and spirituality have been measured by global indices (e.g., frequency of church attendance, self-rated religiousness and spirituality) that do not specify how or why religion and spirituality affect health. The authors highlight recent advances in the delineation of religion and spirituality concepts and measures theoretically and functionally connected to health. They also point to areas for areas for growth in religion and spirituality conceptualization and measurement. Through measures of religion and spirituality more conceptually related to physical and mental health (e.g., closeness to God, religious orientation and motivation, religious support, religious struggle), psychologists are discovering more about the distinctive contributions of religiousness and spirituality to health and well-being.
The authors review evidence regarding the biological processes that may link religiosity/spirituality to health. A growing body of observational evidence supports the hypothesis that links religiosity/spirituality to physiological processes. Although much of the earliest evidence came from cross-sectional studies with questionable generalizability and potential confounding, more recent research, with more representative samples and multivariate analysis, provides stronger evidence linking Judeo-Christian religious practices to blood pressure and immune function. The strongest evidence comes from randomized interventional trials reporting the beneficial physiological impact of meditation (primarily transcendental meditation). Overall, available evidence is generally consistent with the hypothesis that religiosity/spirituality is linked to health-related physiological processes--including cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune function--althogh more solid evidence is needed.
Evidence is presented that bears on 9 hypotheses about the link between religion or spirituality and mortality, morbidity, disability, or recovery from illness. In healthy participants, there is a strong, consistent, prospective, and often graded reduction in risk of mortality in church/service attenders. This reduction is approximately 25% after adjustment for confounders. Religion or spirituality protects against cardiovascular disease, largely mediated by the healthy lifestyle it encourages. Evidence fails to support a link between depth of religiousness and physical health. In patients, there are consistent failures to support the hypotheses that religion or spirituality slows the progression of cancer or improves recovery from acute illness but some evidence that religion or spirituality impedes recovery from acute illness. The authors conclude that church/service attendance protects healthy people against death. More methodologically sound studies are needed.
The investigation of spiritual/religious factors in health is clearly warranted and clinically relevant. This special section explores the persistent predictive relationship between religious variables and health, and its implications for future research and practice. The section reviews epidemiological evidence linking religiousness to morbidity and mortality, possible biological pathways linking spirituality/religiousness to health, and advances in the assessment of spiritual/religious variables in research and practice. This introduction provides an overview of this field of research and addresses 3 related methodological issues: definitions of terms, approaches to statistical control, and criteria used to judge the level of supporting evidence for specific hypotheses. The study of spirituality and health is a true frontier for psychology and one with high public interest.
This study investigated mental health professionals' assessment of the pathognomonic significance of religious beliefs. A total of 110 participants reviewed 3 vignettes depicting individuals possessing the religious beliefs associated with Catholicism, Mormonism, and Nation of Islam. The religious beliefs of the individuals in the vignettes were identified as either being integral to a religious tradition or not and also as either resulting in a threat to harm another or not. Identifying beliefs as religious resulted in lower ratings of pathology for 2 of the religions, and beliefs that did not involve a threat to harm also were rated lower for the same 2 religions. The results reveal a disjuncture between recommendations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and clinicians' judgments.
What forms of innovative collaboration are possible between clergy and psychologists? A total of 117 clergypersons (63% response rate) rated 6 scenarios of collaboration, indicating their level of interest and the extent to which they would like to remain involved with the psychologist. The scenarios were derived from two categories of collaboration articulated by in previous research: mental health services and enhancing parish life. Overall, clergy expressed relatively modest levels of interest in innovative collaboration, though they were somewhat interested in mental health consultation services. Many clergy refer troubled parishioners to clinical or counseling psychologists for treatment, but appear less interested in more innovative forms of collaboration.
In this paper, the Multivariate Belief-Motivation Theory of Religiousness is presented. This theory integrates the religious domains of motivation, belief, and problem-solving style within one framework for the prediction of psychological adjustment. Religious problem-solving style is incorporated in a mediating role. Motivation, belief, and problem-solving style are operationalized respectively in terms of intrinsic/extrinsic religiousness, concept of God, and religious coping style. Trait anxiety is used as the criterion variable. The theory was evaluated for 161 students attending four Christian Protestant colleges. The results supported the necessity of differentiating religiousness into both motivation and belief in order to predict and understand religious coping style and anxiety. Religious problem-solving style mediated the relationship between belief and anxiety. However, both motivation and problem-solving style contributed unique portions of the variance in anxiety, which suggested that motivation was not entirely mediated by problem-solving style.
In this study of 94 Counsel for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)-accredited counselor education programs, 69% of respondents reported their programs addressed spiritual and religious issues; however, only 46% of CACREP liaisons perceived themselves as prepared or very prepared to integrate material related to spirituality and religion in counseling into their teaching and supervision activities. In addition, only 28% of respondents viewed their colleagues as similarly capable of addressing these issues as a component of counselor preparation. The authors discuss implications for training and practice.
This volume is the result and final report of a scholarly process initiated by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew issued a challenge to eight academic disciplines: Assemble a panel of senior scholars to identify the dominant models within your discipline, comparing and contrasting them with historic Christian perspectives regarding human nature. The identified disciplines were economics, history, law, literature, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology. In this volume, the chapters deal primarily with the Jewish and Christian perspectives of these and subsequent matters. Each chapter has also benefited from critique by at least 16 senior colleagues across four rounds of review. It is the hope of the editors that this text will help stimulate an increasing dialogue between psychology and faith perspectives in the decades to come. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In compiling this book on spiritually oriented interventions, it was our hope that readers will become more sensitive and effective at recognizing the important role that religion and spirituality can play in the lives of many clients. Yet our primary goal for this book is to go a step further. We hope to give readers an in-depth look at how to consider both Western and Eastern spiritually oriented interventions in clinical practice. Readers will take away applied insights about how to implement spiritual interventions in their therapeutic practice. Overall, great effort has gone into the book to ensure that each chapter is practitioner “friendly” while also being firmly grounded in theory and research. By bringing together writings of highly regarded scholar–practitioners from diverse Western and Eastern spiritual and religious backgrounds, we hope that
Spiritually Oriented Interventions for Counseling and Psychotherapy will become a valuable tool for equipping psychotherapists to work with sacred themes in clinical interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This chapter presents an intensive retreat-based combination of psychotherapy and spiritual direction. Rooted in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, intensive soul care (ISC) incorporates elements of analytical and existential psychotherapy as well as select techniques from other psychotherapeutic approaches into daily (or twice-daily) sessions. It also draws on understandings and practices of Christian spiritual formation and direction, particularly those associated with the Ignatian spiritual exercises. The relationship between psychology and spirituality that is imbedded within the approach is presented in terms that demonstrate the distinction between spirit and soul, as well as their inextricable interconnection. The approach is then illustrated by means of an extended case study. Anyone who dares to put ideas in print must be prepared for the experience of enforced humility that comes when one changes publicly presented positions. In
Psychotherapy and the Spiritual Quest (Benner, 1988), I argued that psychotherapy and spiritual direction were different enough in focus and goals that practitioners should not attempt to integrate them. In the 10 years between that book and
Care of Souls (Benner, 1998), I became convinced that it was both possible and, in some circumstances, desirable to integrate these two forms of soul care. In this chapter, I present the theoretical foundation for this conviction and illustrate the way in which some of my practice does just this. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
There are substantial data exploring the link between religiousness and health, yet there is little consensus regarding the nature of the relationship between religiousness domains and mental health. The purpose of this study was to identify the types of mental health outcomes associated with religiousness domains. Participants included 251 (M= 19.02; range = 17–25) young adults who completed self-report measures of religiousness (Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Quest Orientations, Faith Maturity Scale), and psychological distress subscales (SCL-90-R). We identified significant relationships between each of the religiousness measures and the SCL-90-R subscales and analyzed the relative contributions of each of the religiousness measures in predicting psychological distress with hierarchical multiple regression. The Faith Maturity Scale was a particularly robust predictor of positive and negative psychological adjustment. The specific pathways by which religiousness influences mental health outcomes remain to be elaborated in future research.
A meta–analysis was performed in an attempt to clarify the proposed relationship between religiosity and psychological adjustment. Specific focus was given to the issue of definition, namely, whether differences in researchers’ conceptualizations of religiosity and mental health could account for the various contradictory findings by psychologists of religion. Analysis of 34 studies conducted during the past 12 years revealed that the definitions of religiosity and mental health utilized by psychologists in this field were indeed associated with different types and strengths of the correlations between religiosity and mental health. Discussion of results assesses the fit between relevant theory and the pattern of change in effect size across categories of religion and adjustment, and concludes with implications for therapeutic uses of religious involvement.
Addresses the issue that parish-based clergy, functioning as frontline community mental health workers, often do so with inadequate training and limited support from the mental health community. Claims that although a clergyperson is as likely to have a severely mentally distressed person seek her or his assistance as is a mental health specialist, there is inadequate research on the function of clergy in the mental health network or the psychological dynamics of religion. Suggests that clergy can serve most effectively in the mental health network as skilled facilitators, identifying the needs of persons, and connecting them to a larger circle of specialized helpers. Argues that the mental health and religious communities share many common values and goals and need to work together more effectively for the best interest of those they are called to serve.
Although church attendance has been associated with a reduced risk of mortality, no study has examined the impact of religious struggle with an illness on mortality.
To investigate longitudinally the relationship between religious struggle with an illness and mortality.
A longitudinal cohort study from 1996 to 1997 was conducted to assess positive religious coping and religious struggle, and demographic, physical health, and mental health measures at baseline as control variables. Mortality during the 2-year period was the main outcome measure. Participants were 596 patients aged 55 years or older on the medical inpatient services of Duke University Medical Center or the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC.
After controlling for the demographic, physical health, and mental health variables, higher religious struggle scores at baseline were predictive of greater risk of mortality (risk ratio [RR] for death, 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.11; chi(2) = 5.89; P =.02). Two spiritual discontent items and 1 demonic reappraisal item from the religious coping measure were predictive of increased risk for mortality: "Wondered whether God had abandoned me" (RR for death, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.07-1.50; chi(2) = 5.22; P =.02), "Questioned God's love for me" (RR for death, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.02-1.43; chi(2) = 3.69; P =.05), and "Decided the devil made this happen" (RR for death, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.05-1.33; chi(2) = 5.84; P =.02).
Certain forms of religiousness may increase the risk of death. Elderly ill men and women who experience a religious struggle with their illness appear to be at increased risk of death, even after controlling for baseline health, mental health status, and demographic factors.
This study investigated whether altruistic social interest behaviors such as engaging in helping others were associated with better physical and mental health in a stratified random sample of 2016 members of the Presbyterian Church throughout the United States.
Mailed questionnaires evaluated giving and receiving help, prayer activities, positive and negative religious coping, and self-reported physical and mental health.
Multivariate regression analysis revealed no association between giving or receiving help and physical functioning, although the sample was highly skewed toward high physical functioning. Both helping others and receiving help were significant predictors of mental health, after adjusting for age, gender, stressful life events, income, general health, positive and negative religious coping, and asking God for healing (R2 =.27). Giving help was a more important predictor of better reported mental health than receiving help, and feeling overwhelmed by others' demands was an independent predictor of worse mental health in the adjusted model. Significant predictors of giving help included endorsing more prayer activities, higher satisfaction with prayer life, engaging in positive religious coping, age, female gender, and being a church elder. Frequency of prayer and negative religious coping were not related to giving help.
Helping others is associated with higher levels of mental health, above and beyond the benefits of receiving help and other known psychospiritual, stress, and demographic factors. The links between these findings and response shift theory are discussed, and implications for clinical interventions and future research are described.
Altruistic (other-regarding) emotions and behaviors are associated with greater well-being, health, and longevity. This article presents a summary and assessment of existing research data on altruism and its relation to mental and physical health. It suggests several complimentary interpretive frameworks, including evolutionary biology, physiological models, and positive psychology. Potential public health implications of this research are discussed, as well as directions for future studies. The article concludes, with some caveats, that a strong correlation exists between the well-being, happiness, health, and longevity of people who are emotionally and behaviorally compassionate, so long as they are not overwhelmed by helping tasks.
Americans’ spiritual searches turn inward
- G H Gallup
Religious perfectionism: A first step toward conceptualization and assessment
- S M Kennedy