Understanding Religion and Spirituality in Clinical Practice by Margaret Clark, Karnac Books, 2012, £15.99, pb, 118 pp. ISBN: 9781855758704

This slim volume aimed at trainee psychotherapists gives an introduction to religion and spirituality and advises how to approach the subject in psychotherapeutic practice. The book is neatly summarised on the final page: ‘the essential way of understanding spirituality and religion in clinical practice is to understand them in the same way as understanding any other material. That is all.’

The author demonstrates how Freud’s conflicted Jewish upbringing and dominant father affected his attitude to religion. He saw religion as a universal neurosis, and his influence meant that religion and spirituality were taboo subjects in UK psychiatry until the past 15 years. On the other hand, Jung had profound mystical experiences, details of which were published posthumously. By assuming all spiritual experience is purely a product of the psyche, Jung undermines the concept of the absolute reality of God. In some ways, this has done more damage to formal religion than Freud’s open opposition.

The practitioner needs to become consciously aware of their own worldview, to consider it and to be open to the possibility that others think differently. ‘God’ means very different things to different people; clarification is always necessary. It is a challenge to separate spiritual and mystical experiences from psychosis. Spiritual practices are seen here in a purely instrumental way, for example, fasting to have a spiritual experience, whereas, for example, Christian fasting is undertaken as a grateful gift to God, not for any benefits.

This book is clearly written, with useful illustrative case material, but is let down by some errors of fact (e.g. p. 38 for ‘Abraham’ read ‘Moses’, p. 79 for ‘Torah’ read ‘Mishnah’). Depth psychotherapy, like religion, seeks to answer the big questions. This existential search for meaning is fundamentally human; we all need meaning and purpose, whether found in a religion, formal spiritual practices, work, relationships, or through psychotherapy.

Overall, I think this is a useful book to be read by psychotherapeutic and more general psychiatric trainees.