Patients receiving spiritual psychotherapy in an inpatient or residential setting reported greater benefit when the clinician was nonreligious. In a sample of 1,443 patients treated by 22 clinicians, nonreligious clinicians were more likely to use dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), facilitate coping, encourage spiritual coping, and explore the relevance of spirituality to mental health. These four factors together, but not individually, explained the link between clinician religion and perceived benefit. The findings suggest DBT may be the most effective approach for delivering spiritual psychotherapy to acute patients, especially in group settings.
The relational spirituality model (RSM) provides a framework for developing spiritual and religious competence in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies. Psychedelic-assisted therapies can provoke personally meaningful spiritual or existential experiences linked to improved outcomes. The RSM's inclusive spiritual, existential, religious, and theological approach offers a pluralistic way to engage diverse traditions in therapy. The article describes the RSM and introduces pragmatic training methods—deliberate practice, experiential components, SERT groups, and assessment training—that can be integrated into existing mental health or psychedelic therapy training programs. It also discusses how the RSM can inform interdisciplinary collaborations across disciplines and healing communities.
A psychotherapeutic treatment for nightmares, adapted from imagery rehearsal therapy for 6- to 11-year-old children, was tested with ten child-mother dyads over three sessions and eight weeks. Participation, which included contact with a clinician and keeping a prospective dream log, was associated with decreases in unpleasant dreams frequency, nightmare distress, and manifest anxiety. Providing educational information about nightmares contributed to this positive effect. Drawing modified versions of nightmares for one month was associated with further reductions in nightmare distress and anxiety but not with changes in unpleasant dreams frequency. Follow-ups at three and six months posttreatment suggest maintained effects.