When I was younger and living abroad, I earned some extra money from a farmer who’d broken his leg. The job was to exercise his favorite horse every morning by riding him to the beach for a swim in the ocean. The horse was old, poorly trained, and cranky. He fought the reins, resisted leaving the barn, and often tried to knock me off his back by running under low-hanging branches. When we’d get to the beach, I’d take off his saddle and guide him into the water, where he’d toss his head and snort so loudly it surprised me every time.
When I described this behavior to the famer, he told me not to be alarmed. In the water, a horse’s belly floats: he no longer has to bear his considerable weight all on his own. In essence, all that snorting was the sound of relief.
When I think of spirituality, I think of that horse in the water—and the feeling of being supported by something larger than myself, something . . . oceanic.
For many people, that something is a god. For others, it’s a ritual practice and a chosen community. For still others, it might be a therapist, who may seem almost supernatural in their capacity to hold someone’s suffering.
In our increasingly secular world, it’s likely that more people are finding a therapist’s office to be a lot like the ocean was for that horse. And helping people find that supportive ocean inside themselves—isn’t that the work of therapy? Or spirituality? . . . You see how the two might overlap and intersect.
And that’s what we’re exploring in this issue—the complex interweaving of psychotherapy and spirituality, and how today’s clinicians are defining and grappling with the spiritual dimension of their work. This isn’t always a comfortable pairing; indeed, many therapists have been trained to avoid exploring people’s religious or spiritual beliefs, lest they accidentally question them or unknowingly pull at the threads of a client’s sacred, emotionally protective fabric. But that hands-off precept is now under question.
The authors here explore what spiritually informed therapy can look like in practice—and the angles they take may surprise you. We hear fresh perspectives from renowned trauma expert Lisa Ferentz and grief specialist David Kessler. Bestselling author Harriet Lerner shows how the practice of listening itself can be a deeply spiritual act, while another iconic writer, Susan Cain of Quiet, discusses the spiritual element of having a bittersweet, melancholic outlook on life. We also address the prevalence of religious and spiritual abuse—and why even trauma-informed therapists tend to overlook the devastating long-term impact.
There’s lots to discover when spirituality meets psychotherapy—if you’re willing to open the door. And perhaps this new year is the perfect opportunity for therapists to open a new door.
We invite you to join the conversation at letters@psychnetworker.org.
Livia Kent
Livia Kent, MFA, is the editor in chief of Psychotherapy Networker. She worked for 10 years with Rich Simon as managing editor of Psychotherapy Networker, and has collaborated with some of the most influential names in the mental health field on stories that have become widely read articles and bestselling books. She taught writing at American University as well as for various programs around the country. As a bibliotherapist, she’s facilitated therapy groups in Washington, DC-area schools and in the DC prison system. In 2020, she was named one of Folio Magazine’s Top Women in Media “Change-Makers.” She’s the recipient of Roux Magazine‘s Editor’s Choice Award, The Ledge Magazine‘s National Fiction Award, and American University’s Myra Sklarew Award for Original Novel.
