Introduction to special issue on spiritual direction: part one.

To say that the past decade has witnessed a growing interest in spirituality is to bold face the obvious. Even reporting, to be more specific, that the integration of spirituality into the professional practice of psychology has become a mushrooming area of interest among mental health professionals seems redundant. As Hall and Hall (1997) summarized, several important milestones along the road to incorporating religious or spiritual beliefs, values, and practices into the process of psychotherapy, are already in the rearview mirror. Specifically delineated were:

...(a) The inclusion of religion as an element of human diversity in the American Psychological Association's (APA) (1992) code of ethics; (b) the inclusion of spiritual problems as a V-code in the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994); and most recently, (c) a number of important publications dedicated to religious therapy (see Worthington, Kurusu, McCullough, & Sandage, 1996, for a review). (Hall & Hall, 1997, p. 86)

Lowering the microscope to focus solely on the modern (predominantly evangelical), the integration movement reveals a growing corpus of attention given to Christian spirituality and its potential role in clinical practice. Benner's (1988) Psychotherapy and the Spiritual Quest, was a permission-giving volume for those who desired to venture across the chasm that had been dug between professional psychology and spiritual longing. In 1995, the Christian Association of Psychological Studies held its international conference under the banner of "Our Heritage of Soul Care." According to Thomas Oden (1995), this was the first gathering of either mental health professionals (including pastoral counselors) that had adopted a theme from Christian spirituality. A special issue of The Journal of Psychology and Christianity followed that was devoted to "Christian Spirituality and Mental Health" (Moon, 1995). Recently, The Journal of Psychology and Theology gave two volumes of attention to "Christian Spirituality: Theoreti cal and Empirical Perspectives" (McMinn & Hall, 2000, 2001).

Tracking the swell of literature on integrating religion and spirituality into professional practice, and the more recent attention to explicit models has been well documented (see Hall & Hall, 1997; McMinn & McRay, 1997; and most recently, Eck, in press; Tan, in press). Eck's specific exploration of the therapeutic use of spiritual disciplines in clinical practice seems to reflect the current crescendo of interest in specific and practical applications of spiritual practices into clinical practice, whereas Tan's attention to ethical issues that surround the integration of spiritual direction into psychotherapy seems to highlight the recent fascination with the specific discipline of spiritual direction--both inside and outside the counseling office--as a fertile area for personal and professional growth.

Against this backdrop The Journal of Psychology and Theology has produced two special issues that are devoted to examining the ancient and modern practice of spiritual direction and the implications for mental health professionals. Equally weighted with this vision is the desire to promote dialogue among those interested in the process of authentic spiritual change and transformation.

The layout of this first volume was inspired in part by Richard Foster's (1998) attention to the different "streams of living water" within the Christian traditions. At the heart of this issue will be the voices of seven different pastors, priests, or theologians who will describe the history and process of spiritual direction from within their denomination/faith group. It was felt that if spiritual direction is to be better understood it would be important to hear from the voices of multiple experts.

The different traditions and representatives are: Orthodox (Father F. Gregory Rogers), Catholic (Father Gene Barrette), Episcopal (Cannon Gray Temple), Reformed (Reverend Luder Whitlock), Holiness (Reverend Wesley Tracy), Social Justice ( Reverend Jerry Gladson), and Charismatic (Reverend Oliver McMahan). Each is a skilled communicator and a laudable representative of a specific tributary of Christian spirituality.

For ease of reading and comparison, each of the seven contributors has agreed to use the same eight-item grid of questions as section headings. These topic areas are: (a) definition of spiritual direction-including a reference to goals; (b) history of practice of spiritual direction within denomination/movement; (c) description of process of authentic transformation; (d) role of the spiritual director; (e) indirect indicators of mature spirituality; (f) contrast to traditional psychotherapy-including specific attention to definition of "presenting problems," 'goal," 'procedures," and "therapeutic resources"; (g) when a referral would be made from a spiritual director to a mental health professional; and (h) bibliotherapeutic suggestions.

This collection of seven different tributaries of spiritual direction will be book-ended by an introductory article (Moon) and a synthesis piece (Benner). The initial article provides a broad understanding of the meaning, purpose, and scope of spiritual direction, and discusses factors concerning resistance to spiritual transformation. The concluding article offers response to the seven voices, examines the diversity of ways of understanding and practicing spiritual direction, and discusses the opportunities for an enhanced understanding of spiritual transformation this diversity provides.

The second of these two special issues (which will appear in the spring of 2003) is devoted to a systematic treatment of theoretical, practical, and empirical considerations relevant to consideration of the integration of spiritual direction into the practice of psychotherapy.

Len Sperry writes the lead article of this second issue and proposes that psychotherapy can become more receptive and effective in dealing with spiritual concerns by appropriately incorporating some or many of the functions of spiritual direction. He also describes the practice of spiritual direction and draws comparisons to pastoral counseling and spiritually oriented psychotherapy.

Siang-Yang Tan focuses more specifically on integrating spiritual direction into psychotherapy, and discusses ethical issues that are involved. Tan also provides an important summary of ethical guidelines for the appropriate and helpful use of spiritual direction in the context of psychotherapy and counseling.

James Beck reminds that at the heart of integrating spiritual formation and psychotherapy is the topic of understanding the human soul. His article explores the meaning of "soul" in Scripture, in Greek philosophy, and in medieval spirituality as it impacts the present practice of psychotherapy, an enterprise, he reminds, that primarily deals with the self. Beck provides particular attention to the knowledge competencies regarding the soul that Christian counselors will need as they re-tool for adding spiritual formation to their counseling practices.

David Larson's unexpected passing leaves an irreplaceable void at the center of the interface between science and religion. Just prior to his untimely death he and his wife, Susan Larson, completed a manuscript for these special issues of The Journal of Psychology and Theology that provided a brief review of quantitative research concerning spirituality's potential relevance to both physical and emotional health. Susan Larson graciously consented to its publication as a tribute to his life and career.

Finally, in their article titled, "Three Voices, One Song," a psychologist (Theresa Clement Tisdale), spiritual director (Veneta Lorraine-Poirier), and pastoral counselor (Carrie E. Doehring) provide perspectives on approaching the care of persons. Taking a narrative, dialogical approach, each contributor introduces her discipline and her approach to care. A vignette is presented and is followed by a perspectival analysis by each author of how she would approach the case. Their article models the interdisciplinary dialogue we hope these special issues will inspire.

These two issues were compiled with the hope that readers would become inspired to both understand and experience more from the journey of authentic transformation. A second but equal hope is that this collection of articles will inspire increased interdisciplinary dialogue and bring greater and mutually beneficial clarity to understanding the process of soul formation.

REFERENCES

American Psychological Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

American Psychological Association. (1992). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 47, 1597- 16 11.

Benner, D. G. (1988). Psychotherapy and the spiritual quest. Grand Rapids, Ml: Baker.

Eck, B. E. (in press). An exploration of the therapeutic use of spiritual disciplines in clinical practice. Journal of Psychology and Christianity.

Foster, R. J. (1998). Streams of living water: Celebrating the great traditions of Christian faith. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Hall, M. E. L. & Hall, T. W. (1997). Integration in the therapy room: An overview of the Literature. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 25,86-101.

Moon, G. W (1995). Special issue on Christian spirituality and mental health. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 14, 291-373.

McMinn, M. R, & Hall, T. W. (2000). Special issue on Christian spirituality: Theoretical and empirical perspectives. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 28,251-320.

McMinn, R. R., & Hall, T. W. (2001). Special issue on Christian spirituality: Theoretical and empirical perspectives: Part 2. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 29,3-79.

McMinn, M. R., & McRay, B. W. (1997). Spiritual disciplines and the practice of integration: Possibilities and challenges for Christian psychologists. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 25, 102-110.

Oden, T. C. (1995). Our heritage of soul care. Paper presented at Christian Association of Psychological Studies (CAPS) International Conference on "Our Heritage of Soul Care: Nurturing the Soul in the Clinic, Community, Family and Academy," Virginia Beach, VA.

Worthington, E. L., Jr., Kurusu, T. A., McCullough, M. E., & Sandage, S.J. (1996). Empirical research on religion and psychotherapeutic processes and outcomes. A 10-year-review and research prospectus. Psychological Bulletin, 119,448-487.

Tan, S. Y. (in press). Integrating spiritual direction into psychotherapy: Ethical issues and guidelines. Journal of Psychology and Theology.

AUTHOR

MOON, GARY, W. Address: Psychological Studies Institute, 2055 Mount Paran Road, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30327. Title: Vice-President for Spiritual Development and Professor of Psychology and Spirituality at Psychological Studies Institute. Degrees: BA, MA, University of Georgia; MDiv, Fuller Theological Seminary; PhD, Clinical Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary. Specializations: Clinical psychology, spiritual formation.

The author wishes to acknowledge the important contributions of Heidi Bolton who served as an in-house technical editor for each of the fifteen articles. Also, David G. Benner's role quickly expanded from that of writing a response article to providing invaluable editorial input. This is reflected in rightly recognizing him as co-editor of both of these special issues and by the fact that I do not appear quite so stupid as in past writing. Requests for reprints may be sent to Gary W. Moon, Ph.D., Psychological Studies Institute, 2055 Mount Paran Road, NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30327. Email: [e-mail]