Abstract
This book explores the disciplinary boundaries between spiritual accompaniment and counseling. Editor Peter Madsen Gubi suggests that these two practices are similar in process, content, and purpose, because psyche and soul are unified. Contributing authors address contemporary questions in the field of spiritual direction and accompaniment, building bridges between spiritual approaches and counseling, though the content is heavily weighted towards discussion of spiritual approaches to pain and suffering. Several authors present helpful case study exemplars. The chapters are concise introductions to very complex constructs from psychotherapy, counseling, and religion.
Gubi asserts that spirituality encompasses a search for the sacred, and provides a lens through which to make sense of life. The idea of becoming, emergence, and relational journeying are themes, as well as a focus on reflexive awareness and a solid knowledge base for the spiritual practitioner. Most authors advocate the process of spiritual accompaniment as one where meaning, depth, and coherence can emerge from the chaos that often infuses human experience.
The content focuses on transdisciplinary practice issues that are relevant for working with those who face spiritual or existential crises. As a mental health nurse practitioner and bereavement counselor in a hospice setting, I found much of interest in this small readable volume. William West explores the meaning of spiritual crisis as times when “meaning, hope, love, peace, comfort, strength, and connection in life” (p. 70) elude us. Phil Goss supplies an exploration of Jungian depth perspectives on the therapeutic process, suggesting that the power of the numinous is a force beneath change and hope. A particularly informative chapter on supervision, by Lynette Harborne, describes several models of supervision that are transferable across disciplines. She reviews the issues of confidentiality, payment for services, accountability, training, and accreditation for the practice of spiritual accompaniment. The chapter by Kathryn Kinmond and Lisa Oakley refers to spiritual abuse as “coercion and control of one individual by another in a spiritual context” (p. 146) resulting in an attack on the integrity or wholeness of the individual. They discuss the importance of supervision and reflexivity with attention to power differentials in the therapeutic relationship.
As a unifying theme, Gubi and other authors underscore the correspondence of relationship, boundaries, and ethics in professional practice. “At it's most profound, spiritual accompaniment can best be thought of as an act of deep relational meeting and hearing” (p. 30). Gubi describes the process as an art of journeying with another on a spiritual quest, holding space for “that-which-we-are-capable-of-becoming” (p. 27). Goss, in his chapter on Jungian concepts, echoes the importance of a relational container where “both client and therapist create a kind of crucible in which something larger and deeper can reveal itself” (p. 40). Several authors cover ethical issues in spiritual direction, including the relevance of transference and countertransference, ideas from psychoanalysis.
The heart of this volume is a well-written and comprehensively referenced chapter by Ruth Bridges on the spirituality of pain. She acknowledges the global nature of suffering that is like ink in water, “swollen with metaphor” (p. 82), indicating “a loss of innocence” (p. 81). Bridges suggests that exploration of pain is a necessary, hopeful process that can yield spiritual awakening and transformation. She warns of the dangers of trying to measure or foreclose meanings for the suffering person. For the helping professional, she advocates stepping out of dogma, diagnoses, and theories in favor of responding to the pain that others bring to the therapeutic or spiritual encounter. She suggests that the professional needs to listen, respond, witness, and reflect.
Gubi and other authors acknowledge a Christian perspective in this text, which is clear from language used to signify the divine and the use of biblical references. The lens of one faith tradition is limiting, since our contemporary world is increasingly culturally pluralistic and religiously syncretic. If spirituality refers to essential qualities of human beings, and religion serves as an existential framework for responding to questions about our spiritual nature, then diverse religious and cultural traditions need to be considered when providing contemporary spiritual accompaniment.
Gubi conflates the meanings of counseling and spiritual accompaniment in this volume. In reality, the goals and theoretical scaffolding of spiritual direction and counseling may diverge considerably. Perhaps because his purpose is to elucidate the ways in which these practices are similar, the book falls short of distinguishing the particular ways that each approach is unique, resulting in a lack of conceptual clarity at times. However, these comparative and conceptual limitations do not detract from his main argument that the most salient issues in both spiritual direction and counseling are attention to relational boundaries and the ethics of care exercised by practitioners.
This book piqued my curiosity about the historical precedents of spiritual accompaniment as a hybrid practice that attends to both the psychological and spiritual dimensions of human experience. I wonder if the burgeoning interest in spiritual approaches to suffering is correlated with increasing secularization and the failure of religious traditions alone to instill trust and hope in spiritual seekers. Recent surveys by the Pew National Trust indicate an increase in Americans who report no religious affiliation, yet claim to have spiritual beliefs and practices. This fact necessitates a closer look at what is meant by the “spiritual.” And as corollaries: What does “spiritual” discourse or praxis mean in the context of a therapeutic relationship? Why might a person seek help from the authority of a spiritual director rather than a counselor? How do spiritual directors respond to suffering others who do not share their own beliefs, ritual, or sacred texts? These questions may call for more—rather than less—conceptual clarity around religion and spirituality, as well as attention to what differentiates counseling from spiritual accompaniment. These questions aside, Gubi and his contributors highlight contemporary issues in the field of spiritual direction and wisely call for compassionate responses to human suffering in ways that transcend disciplinary boundaries.