Mental Health Care & Spirituality – Yearning for a Deeper Approach

Our last entry featured an excerpt from Dr. Ken Pargament’s book, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy. Dr. Pargament was the featured presenter at a conference organized by the Interfaith Network On Mental Illness, held May 16 – 18 in Boulder, titled Sacred Matters: Spirituality as a Vital Resource for Resilience, Health, and Well-Being. This week our podcast is of a lively dialogue recorded just prior to that conference, and includes Dr. Pargament, Windhorse Senior Clinician Marta Aarli, Rabbi Deborah, and Reverend Alan Johnson. These four participants embodied rich and complementary perspectives, giving voice to the experience of clergy, psychotherapists, and persons with lived experience… Their curiosity and openness to one another was evident as they explored what spiritual perspectives and psychological approaches have to offer one another. This exploration further examines how spirituality is typically an underutilized resource in people’s mental health recovery, and that inviting it into a therapeutic process is a powerful step toward relating to the whole person. And ultimately, we recognize that healing is a process of moving toward greater wholeness.

This dialogue will be presented in two podcasts, the second being offered in the near future. We hope you find this as inspiring as we do, and please share your impressions and questions in the comment section.

Thank You Very Much,

Chuck Knapp

Moderator