Relational Spirituality in Psychotherapy

Relational Spirituality in Psychotherapy: Healing Suffering and Promoting Growth, a new book published by the American Psychological Association, is co-authored by Danielsen Staff (Sandage, Rupert, Stavros, & Devor) and is based on the Relational Spirituality Model (RSM) of psychotherapy. The RSM was developed through an empirical base of 30 published studies and the authors’ many years of clinical experience.

The book is set for release in February 2020 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. Click here to pre-order TODAY!

Book Summary:

Spiritual and existential struggles tell a larger story about the quality of clients’ lives and functioning beyond what clinicians can learn from their mental health symptoms alone. This book presents the Relational Spirituality Model (RSM) of psychotherapy, a creative clinical process of engaging powerful existential themes and for helping people navigate deep suffering and trauma.

Practitioners using RSM facilitate a secure and challenging therapeutic space while connecting with clients as they explore ways of relating to the sacred to move toward healing and growth. In this model, therapeutic change is seen as an intense yet safe process of movement and tension between dwelling and seeking, stability and disruption. Assessment and intervention strategies focus on developmental systems—attachment, differentiations, and intersubjectivity—to restructure relationships with self, others, and the sacred.

In-depth clinical case examples demonstrate how to engage diverse client perspectives on suffering and trauma and apply the RSM in individual, couple, family, and group psychotherapy. Readers will find new ways of working within the realm of spiritual, existential, religious, and theological concerns that infuse their clients’ struggles and triumphs.