Spirituality in psychodynamic counselling : an exploration of counsellors' understandings of, and engagement with, spirituality in practice

• Main Author: Buckeldee, Jill
• Other Authors: Clack, Beverley ; Richards, Sally ; Aveyard, Helen ; Ross, Alistair
• Published: Oxford Brookes University 2015
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.741025

There is a continuing interest in spirituality, a fact that seems to fly in the face of claims that UK society is becoming more secularized. Although there has been increased interest and research in spirituality in counselling, there is little specifically concerned with psychodynamic counselling. This thesis argues that incorporating spirituality into psychodynamic practice, in response to client demand, may be harder than for many other counselling approaches. This is because of its roots in psychoanalysis, a field that has been consistently resistant to validating the spiritual dimension. This study explores how counsellors understand spirituality within the theoretical framework of psychodynamic counselling, and employs a narrative methodology to consider how they understand their attitude to impact on their practice. A key finding of the study is that there is an absence of spirituality within the psychodynamic profession, whose structures and training provides little impetus or encouragement to explore it. This research shows the complexities in working with spirituality and the need to work at the boundaries of practice. Because of the complementary nature of spirituality and psychodynamic counselling, this study demonstrates that spirituality is always a possibility in the work. As a result, the research identifies the need to increase professional discourse, from the start of counsellor training, in an area consistently important to clients, so that understanding can be shared and counselling practice in this area more fully understood.