Exploring Spirituality in Mental Health

• Main Authors: Jan-Stella Metheany, Diana Coholic
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Windsor 2019-04-01
• Series: Critical Social Work
• Online Access: https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5802

This paper discusses the viewpoints of four psychiatrists and four social workers practicing in mental health. These participants were individually interviewed for the purposes of understanding how spirituality was being incorporated into helping/health practice with people who have serious mental illnesses. Overall, the qualitative analysis demonstrated that the participants’ perspectives were consistent with the literature in social work and spirituality. For example, participants advocated for a diverse conceptualization of spirituality and believed that an incorporation of spirituality into helping/health practices led to more effective processes. One finding that may be specific to mental health practice was the usefulness of understanding a client’s spiritual beliefs and practices in order to better understand their mental illness. Given many mental health consumers/survivors’ desire for a greater integration of their spirituality in their recovery process, practitioners and researchers are encouraged to consider how the incorporation of spirituality into mental health practices may be fostered.