An Overview of Spiritually Oriented Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Author/s: Ayfer Summermatter, Cinar Kaya

DOI: 10.12738/spc.2017.1.0017 

Year: 2017 Vol: 2 Number: 1

Abstract

While spirituality/religion has a healing effect for some individuals, for others it may have the opposite effect of enhancing psychological symptoms. For this reason, efforts are being made to address spirituality as a therapeutic or accelerating factor and reduce the potential negative effects of spirituality in the therapy process. The effectiveness of these applications is investigated in various studies. A comprehensive literature is being formed out of the studies conducted worldwide. Newly started studies in Turkey and similar countries are promising, but there are few coherent examples of how to address spirituality in therapy. In this article, the techniques and applications used in spiritually oriented cognitive behavioral therapy have been compiled and therapeutic applications are proposed. Ethical practices and applications specific to Muslim clients are also discussed.

Keywords
Spirituality, Cognitive behavioral therapy, Spiritually oriented psychotherapy, Religiously oriented psychotherapy, CBT