Symposium III

Spirituality and Psychotherapy: A Double-Edged Sword?

Claudia Psaila

It is increasingly being acknowledged that spirituality cannot be separated from psychotherapy in the same way that spirituality cannot be differentiated from life since it is interwoven in everyday life (Pargament, 2007). Studies have highlighted a positive relationship between spirituality, religion and client functioning including their physical and psychological health (Koenig 2004; Leach 2009). In this presentation, I discuss the results of a recent qualitative study on the spiritual dimension of psychotherapy. The explorative study focused on the experience and perception of Maltese psychologists and psychotherapists of the spiritual dimension of psychotherapy. The data was collected through using a focus group approach. The findings suggest that spirituality is often considered to be an integral dimension of a person’s identity and experience and as such needs to be acknowledged and addressed in psychotherapy. Both religion and spirituality may, in fact, be considered to be sources of internal strength and support. However, the opposite is also true such that a person’s spirituality may underlie his/her psychological issues. At times, this is linked to a person’s understanding and experience of spirituality and religion. The study points to spirituality as a resource while also being part of the client’s presenting problem either directly or indirectly. Furthermore, this duality may also be true with regards the therapist’s understanding and experience of spirituality and religion with resultant implications for practice.

Spiritual Needs of Patients in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and their Utilization of Spirituality as Part of a Coping Strategy

Anne Zahn & Franz Reiser

A clinical survey at the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Freiburg/Germany investigated psychiatric in-patients’ spiritual and religious attitudes and practices along with their spiritual needs and expectations towards the clinic and its staff. Over the course of 18 months, all new in-patients received a questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of their clinical stay. Our survey consisted mainly of measures developed by A. Büssing et al. (SpREUK-15, Benefit-Scale, SpREUK-P-SF17, SpNQ 1.2) as well as socio-demographic and clinical data (e.g. diagnosis, BDI-II, WHOQOL-bref, BMLSS-10).
At admission, 248 participants took part in the survey (60% women, 40% men; mean age 39.6  ± 13.4  years; religious orientation: 77% Christian, 8.5% other, 14.5% none; self-perception: e.g. 46% regarded themselves as neither „religious“ nor „spiritual“).
Our results show that intrinsic religious (Trust in Higher Guidance/Source) and quest-oriented spiritual attitudes (Search for Support/Access to Spirituality/Religiosity) are relevant for about 20-30% of patients. The meaning-making strategy Reflection: Positive Interpretation of Disease is considered important by 47% of the sample.

Slides:

The Progressive Impact of Burnout on Maltese Nurses

Michael Galea

Nursing profession is a highly stressful vocation. Participants (N=241), who work in three different hospitals in Malta, were assessed on the impact of burnout on their holistic wellbeing. Nurses completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Faith Maturity Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, the Big Five Personality Inventory, and demographic variables. Results from this cross-sectional correlational study indicated that: a) professional nurses in Malta suffer from high levels of burnout, particularly from high exhaustion and depersonalization and low professional accomplishment; b) as expected, burnout negatively correlated with subjective well-being; and c) a path analysis indicated the progressive impact of burnout, first on one’s personality and affective mood, and eventually on one’s wellbeing and spirituality. The implications and recommendations from these results were discussed.

Keywords: Burnout, Nurses, Spirituality, Wellbeing, Personality, Affect.

Religious and Spiritual Attitudes of Patients in Neurological Rehabilitation and their own Concept of their Importance in Life

Anne Zahn & Caro Schuetz

Prior research has shown that religious and spiritual needs are relevant for patients with chronic diseases. However, the question how this should be integrated in therapy or not remains to be further clarified We ask whether patients with neurological disorders have a need that spiritual and religious aspects are met in their therapy in hospital. Here, we tested the hypothesis whether subgroups of patients with high or low levels of spiritual and religious needs can be identified based on the relevance of their spiritual and religious practice in life.
To test this hypothesis, we use an adapted version of the questionnaire developed by A. Büssing. To further understand the relevance of addressing their spirituality and religion during their treatment episode we compare the results gained in the questionnaire with their values they have in life and how content they are related to the specific value. Therefore we use a validated, semi-structured interview (Holzhausen et al., 2010; Holzhausen & Martus, 2012). 200 patients will be included, 100 will have the interview and the questionnaire; the other 100 will just have the interview. In order to see whether the additional interview is needed to understand how religious and spiritual needs must be taken care of in the clinical context. Preliminary findings of the study will be presented.

References
Holzhausen, M., & Martus, P. (2013): Validation of a new patient-generated questionnaire for quality of life in an urban sample of elder residents. Quality of Life Research 22 (1), 131-135.
Holzhausen, M., Kuhlmey, A., & Martus, P. (2010): Individualized measurement of quality of life in older adults: development and pilot testing of a new tool. European Journal of Ageing 7 (3), 201–211.