當靈性與心理諮商相遇－諮商師的觀點

When Spirituality Meets Counseling: The Counselor’s Perspective

過去二十年來，西方心理學界越來越肯定宗教／靈性帶給人超越的力量及生命意義感，諮商心理學研究也顯示諮商師認為在諮商中與案主探討靈性議題是合宜的、採用靈性介入的方法能夠為個案帶來好的諮商效果。這樣對宗教與靈性持正面與開放的態度，為諮商師在諮商工作中開啟了一個新的視野。近年來在台灣的諮商界，一些有宗教／靈性背景的諮商師，也逐漸會把宗教／靈性放在諮商中與案主工作，因此本研究的目的即在探討有宗教／靈性背景的台灣諮商師在諮商中的靈性工作經驗。本研究以16 位有宗教／靈性背景的諮商師為研究參與者，其中四位為基督徒，四位為天主教徒，四位為佛教徒，四位為具為有新時代靈性觀或是兼具認同新時代與佛教的諮商師。研究者透過半結構的個別訪談收集資料，以主題分析的方法分析資料。研究結果發現七個主題：諮商師的靈性取向、結合靈性與諮商發展的心路歷程、融入靈性於諮商之使用時機、靈性介入的方法、肯定靈性介入的正向結果、成為融入靈性的諮商師之意義、融入靈性的諮商倫理。研究的討論與建議於本文末提出。

In the past twenty years, Western psychology research increasingly affirms that religion/spirituality can bring people transcending power and meaning in life. Counseling psychology research also supports the exploration of the client’s spirituality in counseling as beneficial and can bring about effective counseling outcomes. Some counselors in Taiwan also incorporate religion/spirituality into their counseling works. However, it rarely has been researched. The purpose of the present study was to explore the experiences of counselors who included religion/spirituality in their practice. Sixteen research participants with different religious/spiritual backgrounds participated in the study. Among them, four were Christians, four were Catholics, four were Buddhists, and four were New Age believers or individuals who integrated New Age with Buddhism. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted for data collection. Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis. Themes that emerged from the data included: (a) counselor’s spiritual orientations, (b) the developmental process of incorporating spirituality into counseling, (c) the timing for incorporating spirituality into counseling, (d) using the spiritually incorporated counseling interventions, (e) positive outcomes of incorporating spirituality in counseling, (f) the meaning of being a counselor who incorporates spirituality in practice, and (g) the ethics of conducting spiritually incorporated counseling. Suggestions for future studies were discussed.