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Christian Therapists' Perspectives on the Use of Prayer in Therapy St. Catherine University SOPHIA Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers School of Social Work 5-2014 Christian Therapists’ Perspectives on the Use of Prayer in Therapy Paul J. Dirkse St. Catherine University Follow this and additional works at: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Dirkse, Paul J.. (2014). Christian Therapists’ Perspectives on the Use of Prayer in Therapy. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/308 This Clinical research paper is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Work at SOPHIA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers by an authorized administrator of SOPHIA. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running Head: PRAYER IN THERAPY Christian Therapists’ Perspectives on the Use of Prayer in Therapy by Paul J. Dirkse, B.S. May, 2014 MSW Clinical Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of the School of Social work St. Catherine University and the University of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minnesota in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Work Committee Members Collin Hollidge, Ph.D., (Chair) Kerin Logstrom, MA, LMFT Ben Kimball, MA, LGSW The Clinical Research Project is a graduation requirement for MSW students at St. Catherine University/University of St. Thomas School of Social Work in St. Paul, Minnesota and is conducted within a nine-month time frame to demonstrate facility with basic social research methods. Students must independently conceptualize a research problem, formulate a research design that is approved by a research committee and the university Institutional Review Board, implement the project, and publicly present the findings of the study. This project is neither a Master’s thesis nor a dissertation. PRAYER IN THERAPY 2 Abstract Research has been demonstrating the benefits of utilizing spiritual and religious interventions to mitigate symptoms of emotional difficulties in clients that enter therapy. This study specifically aims to investigate Christian therapists’ perceptions on the use of prayer in psychotherapy. Four licensed Christian therapists were interviewed in regard to the following areas: demographics, how prayer is used in therapy, therapist’s perceptions on the use of prayer in therapy, and therapist’s perceptions on the effectiveness of prayer in mitigating symptoms of emotional difficulty. The major themes from the data demonstrate that Christian therapists approach the use of prayer in a client-focused and non-directive way, the use and efficacy of prayer is dependent upon the client, and that prayer has positive outcomes for the client in regard to mitigating symptoms of emotional difficulties. The findings of the current study highlights the sensitive nature of utilizing prayer in therapy with clients, and that it can also be beneficial, both for the therapeutic relationship and in mitigating symptoms of emotional difficulties in clients. PRAYER IN THERAPY 3 Acknowledgments First off, I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for answering my many prayers for strength and endurance throughout the process of writing this paper. If it were not for my faith, I would not have chosen the use of prayer as a topic for research. Also, I would not be pursuing a masters in Social Work. Secondly, I would like to thank my wife for being a large part of the answers to the aforementioned prayers, because without her unwavering support and encouragement, this process would have been exceedingly more difficult. Thirdly, I would like to thank my loving and sacrificial mom, for consistently providing childcare so that I could have 2-3 nights out of the week to focus on my research. Fourthly, I would like to thank my research chair (Colin Hollidge) and my committee members (Kerin Logstrom, and Ben Kimball) for your patience, advice, and support. Lastly, but not at all leastly, I would like to extend a special thanks to all of my friends and family for their prayers and support, and for being so patient and understanding when I couldn’t hang out for pretty much the majority of the time I’ve been working on this paper. I love you all! PRAYER IN THERAPY 4 Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2 Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………….................................................................8 Assessing the Correlation between Religious Practices and Psychological Well- being…………………………………..8 Prayer as the Primary Tool of Intervention……………………………………………………………………………….18 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..28 Sample…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....28 Protection of Human Subjects……………………………………………………………………………………………29 Measurement……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..29 Data Collection…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...30 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….30 Conceptual Framework……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..31 Systems Theory…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..31 Results………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………34 How Prayer is Used in Therapy………………………………………………………………………………………….34 Therapists’ Perceptions on the Use of Prayer in Therapy………………………………………………………………..38 The Effectiveness of Prayer in Promoting the Mental Health of Clients………………………………………………...42 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..45 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………45 Comparisons to Previous Literature……………………………………………………………………………………...45 Implications for Further Research………………………………………………………………………………………..47 Implications for Social Work Practice……………………………………………………………………………………49 Limitations of the Study………………………………………………………………………………………………….50 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….50 References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..52 Appendix A…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………56 Appendix B…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………57 PRAYER IN THERAPY 5 Introduction The use of spiritual and/or religious interventions with clients has been a topic of research for many years (Trier & Shupe, 1991; Lindgren & Coursey, 1995; Taylor, 2001; Drescher et al., 2004; Kuchan, 2008; Hodge, 2010; etc.). Since nine out of ten Americans claim to believe in God or another higher power (Pew Forum, 2008), it is logical to conclude that such interventions in therapy could be useful for many clients. Previous literature has reported on the positive impacts of spiritual interventions for those experiencing painful deficits, both physically and mentally (Wills, 2007; Richards et al., 2003; Trier & Shupe, 1991; etc.). These findings also make important implications for the mental health clinician in his/her practice. One implication involves promoting the use of spiritual interventions in client therapy. For example Hodge (2006) argues for the use of “spiritually modified cognitive therapy” for the simple fact that “Christians represent the largest faith community in the United States.” This supports what Taylor (2001) found concerning a Gallup Poll, taken in 1995, that reported that 96% of Americans either believe in God and/or a supreme being. Hodge (2006) also stated that since depression is “one of the most common mental health problems”, practitioners may receive clients for whom such interventions are appropriate. Dane and Moore (2005), in their study of care for the older adult population, highlight the validity of incorporating more training in graduate level courses, of different forms of spiritual interventions. For example, Dane and Moore argue that “social work education has lagged PRAYER IN THERAPY 6 behind in training professionals to work with clients who struggle with death/dying, serious illness, and disability”; and that “social workers and other health care professionals often do not attend to an individual’s spirituality when working with people with advanced cancer (Dane & Moore, 2005, pp. 66, 68). However, according to the literature reviewed for the current study, spiritual interventions have been found to be utilized in many different populations, such as those suffering from severe and persistent mental illness; couples dealing with marital conflicts; depression among the older adult population; individuals suffering from chemical dependency issues; etc. The existing research takes a very broad approach, in the sense of assessing the value of spiritual/religious interventions, as a whole, in therapy. Although this research has proven useful in demonstrating the validity of spiritual interventions, the current research will have a much narrower focus, with regards to Christian therapists perceptions of the use of prayer in therapy, to the exclusion of other spiritual/religious interventions that have been used with clients (i.e. scripture reading, worshipping, attending religious services, etc.). There are several reasons why this research is important. First, only a few studies have focused specifically on the benefits of prayer in therapy, to the exclusion of all other forms of spiritual interventions. Second, prayer appears to be a frequently (if not one of the more) utilized spiritual intervention that serves to manage, control, and mitigate symptoms of depression and other forms of illnesses (Lindgren & Coursey, 1995; Taylor, 2001; Rogers et al.,
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