What meaning do counsellors and psychotherapists give to spirituality and how is this experienced within the therapeutic process in the Maltese context?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning counsellors and psychotherapists give to spirituality and understand how this meaning influences the therapeutic process. Six professionals were invited to reflect upon their personal and professional experience of spirituality. A phenomenological approach was taken to capture the salient features of the spiritual experience and thematic analysis was adopted to remain faithful to the participants’ subjective experience and understanding of the spiritual dimension. Each participant was asked to draw a personal spiritual genogram to provoke reflection and awareness prior to the interview process. Face to face semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, allowing approximately one to two hours for each interview session. Each individual interview was audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Line-by-line coding was adopted highlighting the main emerging themes and inductive coding was used to capture the subjective experience of the participants. Findings indicate the strong influence of the Catholic religion on the participants’ understanding and experience of the spiritual dimension within the Maltese context. Spirituality was defined as a personal and unique experience providing meaning and purpose in life. Furthermore, participants highlighted that there seems to be a spiritual professional silence in the field of counselling and psychotherapy. In fact, spirituality was portrayed as intimately linked to the process of counselling and psychotherapy however still ‘hidden’ in the context of therapy (Psaila, 2012). The therapist’s presence, experience, and attunement to the spiritual dimension were identified as inevitably influencing the therapeutic process. Finally, this research emphasized the need for professional training and supervision to integrate the spiritual dimension.