Addressing Spiritual and Religious Coping in Psychotherapy An Overview of the Western Studies

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Abstract

Spiritual and religious beliefs and practices contain an enormous therapeutic potential, which is shown by research held in the West. What prevents therapists from addressing this sphere with their clients? What are the barriers, strategies and conditions of integrating spiritual into psychotherapy? The scientific and empirical foundation of research analyzed in current paper gives an example ofan alternative to unproductive discussions on an abstract level in ideological-confrontational style on the evidence based and scientific level. The positive and negative side of such instrumental and behavioristic approach to spirituality is outlined. A task of generating a whole and methodologically funded model of the process of spiritual coping is beingraised.

General Information

Keywords: spiritual coping, counseling psychology, psychotherapy, psychology of re- ligion, synergetic anthropology, spiritually-oriented psychotherapy

Journal rubric: Psychology of Faith, Christian Psychology and Psychotherapy

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2016240509

Funding. The research has been supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant № 15-06-10889 “Synergic-Phenomenological Approache in the Сonsulting Psychology”).

For citation: Shankov F.M. Addressing Spiritual and Religious Coping in Psychotherapy An Overview of the Western Studies. Konsul'tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2016. Vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 151–177. DOI: 10.17759/cpp.2016240509. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Fyodor M. Shankov, Psychologist of the Second Category, State Budgetary Institution "Moscow Service of Psychological Assistance to the Population", Post-Graduate Student of the Laboratory of Scientific Bases of Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution "Psychological Institute" of the Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: fshankov@gmail.com

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