Publisher's Synopsis
In "A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy", authors P. Scott Richards and Allen E. Bergin note that spiritual perspectives have long been excluded from psychological theory and the practice of psychotherapy. They propose that the time is ripe for the inclusion of a spiritual strategy in examining and assessing personality and in providing psychotherapeutic counselling.;This book provides a rationale and framework for integrating a theistic spiritual strategy into mainstream approaches to psychology and psychotherapy that, the authors hope, will reach a large, underserved population of religious clients. Richards and Bergin demonstate a respect for the validity and the achievements of the scientific method, and argue that the spiritual domain, while clearly separate, is also susceptible to scientific investigation. They take pains to place their proposed theistic strategy on a parallel path with the more traditional forms of psychotherapy that have evolved in the past 100 years.;This text is orientated to practitioners, and the authors demonstrate to therapists how to implement spiritual perspectives and interventions into their professional work. The text begins with a review of the history and philosophy of science and psychology, and of the central beliefs of the major world religions (Western and Eastern), of the process of research and scientific discovery, of the evolution of the practice of psychotherapy. Richards and Bergin then look at the nature of the traditional antagonisms between the spiritual and scientific domains, and they offer a discussion of psychotherapy processes and methods, theoretical issues and guidelines, and a series of case studies that bring their theses and research to life.
