Spirituality and social work in the mental health sector : a social worker perspective

Abstract

Spirituality is a relatively new area of focus in social work practice both abroad and in Malta. Only recently have researchers started to delve into the importance of helping professionals, including social workers, being able to assist clients with their spiritual needs (Sewpaul & Jones, 2002). Many consider spirituality to be a fundamental part of human nature (Carlisle, 2015; Senreich, 2013; Starnino, Gomi & Canda, 2014). Research conducted with clients suffering from a mental illness highlights the importance of spirituality. Here, spirituality is seen as both a resource and as underlying pathology for clients with mental health difficulties (Psaila, 2012; Weisman de Mamani, Tuchman & Durate, 2010). Consequently, many argue that the spiritual dimension should not be ignored by social workers. The purpose of this study is to analyse social work practice in relation to spirituality, from the perspective of social workers who work with persons suffering from mental illness. In order to understand the subjective and unique experience of each social worker interviewed, a subjectivist methodology, in particular, a qualitative, phenomenological approach was used. Interviews were conducted with seven social workers who have experience in the mental health sector. Data gathered sought to explore the participants’ understanding of spirituality, the participants’ perspectives of the relationship between spirituality and the well-being of clients suffering from mental illness and the participants’ perspective of spiritually-sensitive social work practice with persons suffering from mental illness. Another aim of the study was to explore the training received in the area of spiritually-sensitive social work practice. The participants’ understanding of spirituality is discussed in this study. Spirituality was seen as finding purpose, integral to humanity and connection. In addition, spirituality was perceived as being different to religion, yet overlapping. The participants highlighted three main shared features of spirituality and religion. Here, they saw both spirituality and religion as community, involving contact with a higher being and values, principles and beliefs. Furthermore, the findings suggest that spirituality is a double-edged sword, with all participants identifying spirituality as both a resource and pathology. The participants highlight the importance of social workers following the client’s lead when choosing to include spirituality in practice. Moreover, all the participants agreed that spirituality is important to address with persons with mental health issues. They explained that spirituality is not sufficiently addressed in social work practice. As a result, the participants underlined the importance of including the spiritual dimension in holistic social work practice. Also discussed in this study are spiritual practice dilemmas faced by social workers in the field of mental health. Furthermore, a salient finding of this study centres on the lack of training received by social workers. This study therefore highlights the need for training of social workers in spiritually-sensitive practice in Malta.