ABSTRACT
Implementing spiritual values in psychotherapy is a worthy goal, but such an enterprise exists in a context, and a broad spectrum of effort must be pursued if value-oriented therapeutic practices are to attain optimal meaning and efficacy. Strategies include concepts regarding the origins, development, and dynamics of personality, the organization or structure of personality, the assessment or measurement of personality, and personality change. A spiritual approach contributes distinctive factors to a strategy of personality and therapeutic change, but such an approach necessarily partakes of characteristics of other approaches. A spiritual approach to psychology has profound implications for personality theory. A spiritual perspective anchors values in universal terms. Since psychotherapy is a value-laden process, this makes the spiritual strategy immediately relevant to the therapeutic situation. Qualitative, descriptive research may be important in analyzing the relation between a religious lifestyle and personality traits and mental health indices.
