Spiritual Care and Therapy

Book excerpt: The current interest in spirituality has intensified the quest to incorporate spirituality in non-sectarian therapy. Spiritual Care and Therapy is a hands-on, up-to-date clinical guide that addresses this concern. Peter VanKatwyk explores spiritual care, from pastoral traditions to essential psychotherapies, in individual, couple, and family therapy, offering integrative perspectives. Therapy vignettes from multiple perspectives are included, as well as a wealth of diagrams and maps. His unique perspective of different helping relationships is an approach that celebrates diversity and promotes the flexibility of multiple uses of self and their respective styles of care. Part 1 describes common and pluralistic meanings of spirituality, locating spiritual care both in the ordinary experience of daily life and in professional practice. Part 2 focuses on the essentials of caring, posed in the three questions of what to know (therapy models), what to say (communication roles) and what to be (uses of self). These three core areas converge in the book’s central framework of the helping style inventory (helping relationships). Part 3 maps the contexts of care: the person situated in family and society, moving through time in rites of passage that congest when impacted by crisis and loss. Finally, Part 4 presents the actual process of clinical education, first through a model of supervision and second, through a research methodology designed for the study of spirituality and health care. Perfect as a text in either education or academic programs, this book will be of interest to all helping professionals who value an integrative and holistic approach to spiritual care and therapy.