Identifying the categories of spiritual experience encountered by therapists in their clinical work

ABSTRACT

Spirituality has replaced religion in popular culture and its presence is being felt in the therapeutic world. Using a questionnaire completed by 104 people utilising six descriptive definitions of spirituality and 36 categories of spiritual experience, three meta-themes of forms of spirituality emerged through a thematic analysis. These are spiritualties of the Sacred, the Self and the Senses. When the therapist's theoretical orientation is identified, there are different expressions of the spirituality that emerge. Of specific importance is that due to approximately 90% of the respondents being female, what emerges therefore is an expression of female spirituality. More research will be required to identify if there is matching male spirituality.

KEYWORDS:

• Spirituality
• spiritual experiences
• quantitative methodology
• Self
• Sacred
• gender
• theoretical orientation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Alistair Ross is Associate Professor of Psychotherapy, Director of Psychodynamic Studies, Dean and Pastoral Advisor at Kellogg College, Oxford University. His earlier research was on spirituality and psychoanalysis.