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The Interplay of Psychology and Spirituality

A Resource for Counselors and Psychotherapists

Published by She Writes Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

Many counseling clients find comfort and meaning in their spiritual lives, in the context of religious affiliation or the diverse viewpoints of the “spiritual but not religious.” But counselors and psychotherapists often lack training for work in this territory and may be wary of opening the door. The Interplay of Psychology and Spirituality is an exploration of the subtle, fluid relationship between psychology and spirituality that offers valuable perspectives and suggestions for embracing spirituality and religion in the helping professions. Drawing on Jungian, transpersonal, and integral perspectives, Hepburn highlights personal and cultural styles, spirituality as a therapeutic resource, and the potential for psychospiritual growth. She also emphasizes the importance of focusing on metaphors, stories, and direct experience rather than beliefs. Thoughtful attention is given to potential psychospiritual problems, ethical dilemmas, and diagnostic challenges. There are also frequent opportunities for personal reflection. Unique features of the book include consideration of the potential relationship of spirituality to therapeutic themes such as attachment, trauma, subpersonalities, and somatic experience, as well as application of the concepts in the stories of nine fictional characters based on the Enneagram. Thoughtful and thought provoking, The Interplay of Psychology and Spirituality is a valuable resource for helping professionals, spiritual directors, and for general readers with a particular interest in the subject.

About The Author

Alexandra Hepburn has a master’s degree in special education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and received her PhD in human development from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. She has been in private practice as a counselor since 1994, focusing on loss and grief, life transitions, and spirituality. In her twenty-six-year faculty role at Antioch University Seattle, she taught courses on loss and grief, personality theory, developmental psychology, and the interplay of psychology and spirituality. She also coordinated a non-clinical master’s degree program in psychology and spirituality. After living on both US coasts, Hepburn has now settled among cedar trees and near a beach in the Pacific Northwest.

Product Details

  • Publisher: She Writes Press (October 1, 2019)
  • Length: 384 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781631526510

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Raves and Reviews

“ . . . an insightful and thorough guide to coping with patients’ spiritual journeys.” —Kirkus Reviews “Hepburn artistically and expertly interweaves spiritual development, self/other knowledge of the Enneagram, and spiritual intelligence. The result is both words and the melody of the beautiful dance between mental health and spirituality. This is a must-read for all psychotherapists interested in the spiritual journey, both their own and that of the clients they serve.” —Craig S. Cashwell, PhD, author, with J. Scott Young, of Integrating Spirituality and Religion into Counseling: A Guide to Competent Practice “By wisely and skillfully deploying the Enneagram system of personality, perhaps the most powerful psycho-spiritual tool available today that addresses this integration, Hepburn clarifies the way these two approaches may be usefully combined and advances the ability of therapists everywhere to do deeper work with clients in a more effective way.” —Beatrice Chestnut, PhD, MA, author of The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge and The 9 Types of Leadership: Mastering the Art of People in the 21st-Century Workplace “Dr. Alexandra Hepburn has provided counselors and therapists with an amazingly useful and thoughtful discussion of the role of spirituality in therapeutic work with our clients. As a clinical mental health counselor who believes that the spiritual domain is always present in the problems and conflicts that our clients bring, The Interplay of Psychology and Spirituality is a must-read, providing wonderful examples of how to work with a variety of presenting issues where spiritual themes might be missed if not attended to.” —Ned Farley, PhD, Chair, Doctoral Program in Counselor Education & Supervision, Antioch University Seattle “A skillful resource for our specialized age. Hepburn interweaves the multiple dimensions and disciplines of humanity’s most ultimate concerns with practical potency and illustrative wisdom.” —Neville Ann Kelly, DMin, PhD, professional spiritual director and Integral Master Coach™ “This volume is a lovely introduction to some of the most important issues in transpersonal psychology. It brings a unique lens to view some of them, in particular the Enneagram and Jung's typology, and is an accessible approach to whoever wants to explore this area.” —Brant Cortright, PhD, author of Psychotherapy and Spirit, Integral Psychology and The Neurogenesis Diet and Lifestyle “Practicing psychotherapeutic training doesn't teach spiritual literacy. This readable volume fills that gap. It is, first, an intelligent guide to a series of the most advanced and rich theoretical frameworks for understanding the interplay of psychology and spirituality. And it applies those distinctions by guiding the reader through a far-reaching survey of the nature and varying expressions of spiritual experience, as well as their relationships to various neuroses and psychopathologies.” —Terry Patten, author of A New Republic of the Heart, co-author of Integral Life Practice “This book covers what therapists need to know in order to effectively address the religious and spiritual beliefs and practices of their clients. It is written in an inclusive way that serves as an invitation to a dialogue: First within oneself about the nature of spirituality and one's own beliefs and practices. Second, to step back and see how such beliefs and practices are present in everyone at some level as part of the human existential condition. Everyone is on some kind of a spiritual journey. For the therapist, this book serves as an ice breaker for exploration about a client's experience of their spiritual strengths and any spiritual problems or crises.” —David Lukoff, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Sofia University Founder, Spiritual Competency Resource Center “Dr. Alexandra Hepburn has woven a beautiful tapestry that integrates the value of the Enneagram, an ancient key to unraveling the wounded ego and inspiring our integration of our highest virtues, along with very practical interventions that will serve all clinicians and clients alike. We must explore the depths in order to discover the heights and embody this wisdom into our everyday living.” —Diane Poole Heller, PhD, author of The Power of Attachment: How to Create Deep and Lasting Relationships, Healing your Attachment Wounds, and Crash Course: A Self-Healing Guide to Auto Accident Trauma and Recovery; creator of the DARe training programs for therapists (Dynamic Attachment Repatterning experience) “Interplay is a gift that keeps on giving. Alexandra Hepburn has filled this book with treasure upon treasure, some you’ll use now, some you’ll come back for later. Her capacity for interweaving psychological and spiritual ways of seeing and being—for helping them play together—is remarkable. This is a work of wisdom.” —Russell Siler Jones, ThD, LPCS, author of Spirit in Session: Working with Your Client’s Spirituality (and Your Own) in Psychotherapy

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