Tünde Szabó

Spiritual Transcendence and Mental Health of Psychotherapists and Religious Professionals in a Hungarian Adult Sample

In this study we examine whether components of spiritual transcendence can explain individual differences in mental health in a Hungarian adult sample (N = 583), with a special focus on the associations in two subsamples, religious professionals and psychotherapists. Using the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS), we found that religious professionals presented higher Prayer Fulfillment and Universality than psychotherapists; however, members of both professional groups scored higher than other professionals on these dimensions. By contrast, psychotherapists were superior to religious professionals in Connectedness. Moreover, higher Universality predicted better mental health, even after controlling for gender, age, profession, and basic personality traits. No interaction effects were found between profession and the subscales of the STS. Results suggest that the potential mental health benefits of spirituality, especially in form of a universal view of existence, are equally present in both specific professions and in the general sample, whereas the professions themselves still reflect differences both in spirituality and in well-being.

Recent findings in the effectiveness testing of an interdisciplinary training program in mental health promotion.

Participants of the Hungarian training program in mental health promotion described in this paper are human services professionals (mainly education and health professionals, religious and social workers). The aims of the three-year graduate program include the development of students’ professional expertise with a body of knowledge of mental health promotion on the individual, community and social levels and with a mental-health-promoting attitude. Testing the effectiveness of the program must measure a change in this attitude rather than an increase in academic knowledge. The instrument here presented is based on a case description, relevant to the students’ occupation. Content analysis methods and a special scoring system can be employed in the interpretation and evaluation of the answers to the mostly open-ended questions. The longitudinal study presents a comparative analysis of the four occupational groups named above. In addition to results, the paper also discusses difficulties and suggestions for further research.

Spirituality in Psychotherapy

While scientific interest in the relationship between psychotherapeutic praxis and spirituality is growing, there is still little knowledge on this topic, especially in an East Central European context. To explore how psychotherapists understand spiritual issues and experiences they encounter in their work and to learn what happens to these issues in the course of psychotherapy, this study analyses semi-structured interviews with 30 Hungarian psychotherapists. Applying a grounded theory analytical strategy, three main topics were identified: the therapists attitude towards spirituality leaves a discernible trace in the psychoterapeutic treatment; the therapist influences the way spiritual issues are treated; and the therapist may have a shared spiritual experience with the client. We present individual variations of these experiences as they appear in the code tree. Results are interpreted with reference to a systemic view of the psychotherapeutic process, the intersubjective space of patient and therapist, and the notion of the therapists’ mentalizational capacity.