| Summary: | The book begins with a review of the history of science and psychology, of the central beliefs of the major world religions, and of the evolution of psychotherapy. The authors then look at traditional antagonisms between the spiritual and scientific domains, and they offer guidelines and a series of case studies that bring their theses and research to life. The authors argue that when psychotherapists diagnose and assess their clients, they should routinely assess the religious and spiritual system of their clients' lives to obtain a fuller and more accurate diagnostic picture. /// This book provides guidance for integrating a theistic spiritual strategy into mainstream approaches to psychology and psychotherapy in order to reach a large, underserved population of clients with religious and spiritual beliefs. The theistic approach assumes that God exists, that human beings have an eternal spirit, or soul, and that God communicates with human beings through spiritual processes. The authors argue that spirituality is also susceptible to scientific investigation. They place their proposed theistic strategy on a parallel path with the more traditional forms of psychotherapy that have evolved in the past 100 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).
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