Spirituality As a Working Model in Brief Psychotherapy: Spiritual Approaches to Emotional and Behavioral Change

Spirituality as a Working Model in Brief Psychotherapy is a practical book that describes easily applicable methods for use by nontheologically trained therapists. The focus is on brief psychotherapy, since long-term treatment is no longer possible for many individuals today living busy lives on a limited budget. The book is unique in its approach involving real-life encounters between patients and therapists with years of experience in both spirituality and psychotherapy. While there are other books in the field of spirituality and psychotherapy, they are written from a traditional Freudian-based philosophy and do not include practical, easily applicable methods for use when time is limited. Most assume a traditional longer commitment by both therapist and patient, which today is often unrealistic. The authors of this book come from multiple disciplines including pastoral counseling, psychology, psychiatry, medicine, social work, and theology. Major areas of presentation include: Spirituality as a Multidimensional Model for Psychotherapy; The Ubiquity of Spirituality; The Dynamics of Faith: Understanding Religion and Spirituality; Spirituality and the Therapist; Counseling Body/Soul Persons; The Energy of Change; Spiritual Competence in a Medical Setting; Rituals and Symbols in Brief Psychotherapy; Spiritually Based Therapy; Working Through the Steps of Spiritual Development; and Ethics in Spiritually Based Brief Psychotherapy. The primary audience for this text is students in all the human behavior fields, professional counselors, clergy, chaplains, as well as professionals already in practice looking for better ways to achieve real results using brief psychotherapy. Each of the 11 chapters contains many practical applications for therapists.