Spirituality and Mental Health: Clinical Applications
Gary HartzOverview
This guide for mental health professionals and pastoral counselors provides you with a framework to assess and incorporate client-based spirituality into your practice. The author's unique understanding of spirituality and its relationship to mental health makes the book an ideal educational guide for practitioners striving to understand the impact of faith on their clients' mental health. The insights presented in Spirituality and Mental Health: Clinical Applications will leave you better informed about the complexities of spirituality and make it easier for you to integrate them meaningfully into your clinical work.Synopsis
The intersection between spirituality and mental health has become a significant area of concern for some mental health experts. Hartz, a psychologist, offers a handbook for professionals based on his "client-centered approach" to incorporating spirituality in his own practice, as well as workshops he conducted on the topic in 1999. He begins by defining spirituality and discussing how to assess patients' spirituality in connection with coping. He then looks at ethical matters concerning spiritual therapy, using meditation, anger and forgiveness, and intervention, all including specific case examples. He ends with an explanation of a "psychoeducational spirituality group." Appendices include example sessions and questionnaires. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR