{"id":649408,"date":"2026-06-20T18:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/649408\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T18:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:59:10","slug":"spiritually-integrated-psychotherapy-across-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/649408\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy Across Cultures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I share additional findings from the Enhancing Practice-Based Evidence for Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies<\/a> project. This post focuses on a study of Catholic therapists and clients in 13 countries by Wonjin Sim and her colleagues, published in the APA journal Psychotherapy<\/a> (Sim et al., 2022). Their findings offer valuable insights for psychotherapists who wish to integrate faith and spirituality<\/a> into their work. I thank Dr. Sim for her permission to share these findings.<\/p>\n

The Research Study<\/p>\n

The study examined the process and outcomes of spiritually integrated psychotherapies (SIPs) conducted by Catholic therapists in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Although research on spiritually integrated psychotherapy has increased in recent years, most studies have been conducted in North America and with predominantly White Christian samples. This study provides insight into how SIPs are practiced internationally and whether they are associated with changes in clients’ spiritual and nonspiritual distress. <\/p>\n

Methods<\/p>\n

The researchers used a practice-based evidence design rather than a randomized clinical trial. Therapists conducted therapy as they normally would, without a treatment manual or experimental manipulation. The study included 34 Catholic therapists practicing in 13 countries (Uganda, India, Korea, Mexico, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, Malta, Vietnam, Myanmar, Belarus, the Czech Republic, and Colombia) and 359 clients who participated in 4,380 therapy sessions. <\/p>\n

Most therapists were priests or nuns who had received training in spiritually integrated psychotherapy at the Pontifical Gregorian University\u2019s Institute of Psychology in Rome or through alumni trained there. Of the 359 clients, 355 were Catholic, and 4 were Hindu. Clients presented with a wide range of concerns, including interpersonal conflict, self-esteem<\/a> issues, trauma<\/a>, personality disorders<\/a>, and spiritual growth concerns. <\/p>\n

The researchers assessed both spiritual and nonspiritual outcomes. Spiritual distress included concerns such as loss of spiritual direction or inspiration. Nonspiritual distress included psychological, relational, and physical health concerns. Therapists also completed a checklist after each session, identifying which spiritual interventions they had used.<\/p>\n

Process Findings<\/p>\n

Across all therapists and countries, the three most frequently used spiritual interventions were encouraging personal prayer, affirming trust in God, and encouraging clients to listen to their hearts. Other commonly used interventions included discussing hope, helping clients discern God’s will, discussing self-control<\/a>, exploring the spiritual dimensions of problems, encouraging acceptance of God’s love, discussing gratitude<\/a>, and using spiritual confrontation.<\/p>\n

Therapists reported using at least one spiritual intervention in approximately 83 percent of all sessions. On average, therapists used about five spiritual interventions per session. Spiritual interventions were used more frequently during the early and middle phases of treatment than during the later phases. Therapists also tended to use more spiritual interventions with clients who reported higher levels of initial spiritual or nonspiritual distress.<\/p>\n

The study found substantial differences in the types of spiritual interventions used across continents. In Africa, the most common interventions were encouraging personal prayer, affirming trust in God, and discussing hope. In Asia, the most common interventions were discussing self-control, discussing hope, and affirming trust in God. In Europe, therapists most frequently listened to spiritual issues, encouraged listening to the heart, and engaged in silent prayer. In Latin America, the most common interventions were spiritual confrontation, discussing the spiritual dimensions of problems and solutions, and spiritual self-disclosure. These differences provide evidence that the therapists adapted spiritually integrated psychotherapy to local cultural contexts.<\/p>\n

Outcome Findings<\/p>\n

Clients showed significant reductions in both spiritual and nonspiritual distress over the course of therapy. At intake, clients reported higher levels of spiritual distress, nonspiritual distress, and psychological symptoms than they did at the end of treatment. Growth-curve analyses indicated that improvement occurred most rapidly early in therapy and then continued at a slower rate as treatment progressed.<\/p>\n

Spirituality Essential Reads<\/p>\n

One of the study\u2019s most intriguing findings concerned the relationship between spiritual distress and psychological distress. The two forms of distress were strongly correlated. Clients who experienced greater spiritual struggles also tended to report higher levels of emotional and psychological suffering. Likewise, when spiritual distress decreased, psychological distress often decreased as well. <\/p>\n

However, the direction of change was somewhat unexpected. Improvements in psychological functioning during one therapy session predicted improvements in spiritual well-being during subsequent sessions. In contrast, improvements in spiritual well-being did not significantly predict later reductions in psychological symptoms.<\/p>\n

The authors suggested that this pattern may reflect a developmental process. As emotional distress, anxiety<\/a>, depression<\/a>, or interpersonal conflict begin to improve, clients may become more capable of engaging spiritual questions and experiencing spiritual growth. In other words, psychological stabilization may create conditions that allow deeper spiritual healing to occur.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n

Spiritually integrated psychotherapies were associated with reductions in both spiritual and nonspiritual distress. Therapists may wish to use spiritual interventions with their clients, especially with those who value spirituality and who are experiencing spiritual distress. Therapists should use spiritual interventions based on clients’ cultural and religious context and individual emotional and spiritual needs. Dr. Sim and her colleagues called for additional international research, including studies examining how therapists adapt spiritually integrated psychotherapy across different cultures and religious traditions. Investigations comparing SIPs with control conditions are also needed. <\/p>\n

Psychotherapists seeking additional resources on integrating spirituality into treatment may find the publications in the references helpful, and other articles I have posted. <\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 by P. Scott Richards, All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, I share additional findings from the Enhancing Practice-Based Evidence for Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies project. This post focuses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-649408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}