A growing number of psychologists believe that religion and spirituality have tools that can help with today’s mental health crisis, which is leading to an increase in training opportunities to integrate faith and spirituality into psychotherapy, writes Richard Schiffman in the Washington Post (September 23). There have also been a growing number of articles and research papers on the role of faith and spirituality in dealing with the mental health crisis gripping the U.S. The recognition has been a long time coming. A new diagnostic category, “Religious or Spiritual Problem,” was added into the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association) back in 1994, but it was only in 2016 that the American Medical Association advised that doctors should provide a spiritual care plan as part of their treatment for patients, Schiffman writes. Part of the reason for the time lag is the still prevalent religiosity gap between psychologists and the general population, according to David Lukoff, a clinical psychologist. While mental health professionals are often uncomfortable with the subject, which they have little personal experience in, more than half of patients are interested in spiritually integrated therapy. Only a quarter of psychologists and psychiatrists have been trained in how to meet clients’ spiritual needs, according to Lukoff. He recently helped develop a program to promote “spiritual competency” for therapists, which includes classes on mindfulness, self-compassion, forgiveness and mystical experience. Many of the new programs and courses stress spirituality more than religion, with one psychology professor defining spirituality as a “shift into a more expansive state of awareness.”
