Spiritual direction is not psychological counseling but it helps for spiritual directors to know something about behavior, cognition and emotions—the basic focus of psychology. In technical terms, psychology is the scientific study of the human person: our brain, senses, nerves, our development, memory, motivation, consciousness, intelligence, personality, attitudes, influence, family systems and treatments necessary for pathology.
Psychotherapy is the helping relationship between a socially sanctioned professional and a person who wants to make a change in thinking, emotions and behavior. There are more than 400 types of therapies used by these professionals to help us in the process of change.
Clinical psychologists, licensed counselors and psychiatrists are part of the health care delivery system in this country. As such, their services are usually covered by health insurance. While therapists are charged with the responsibility of understanding a client’s relationship to themselves and to their spirituality (which can include talking about God), there have been cases of psychologists losing licenses when they conduct spiritual practices—including prayer—and call it psychotherapy (especially when billing insurance for the appointment). As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to find a therapist who will talk at length with a person about spirituality. This is also why spiritual direction is so important—and why we probably never will or never should be covered by insurance!
The most common question spiritual directors have about psychology is “How do I know if my directee needs therapy in addition to spiritual direction?” Dr. Rich Muszynski, a psychologist who teaches at the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction, says:
There are three different ways people utilize psychotherapy.
- Symptom relief, from problems like depression, anxiety, hallucinations, eating disorders, flashbacks from traumatic events, excessive drinking or drug abuse.
- Maintaining mental health once symptom relief has been achieved. This includes understanding the underlying cause of the pain or pattern.
- Once symptoms are readily managed and client has received a new understanding of self, therapy can be used to help the client find their fullest potential and to grow in ways that enhance their experience of life.
So, if your directee appears to need significant symptom relief—if depression, anxiety, hallucinations (visions or other spiritual-type experiences), eating patterns, trauma triggers, alcohol or drugs are getting in the way of their daily life—they need psychological help in addition to spiritual direction.
Some red flags to watch out for include disorientation, a sudden onset of problematic behavior, lack of control over the behavior, inappropriate emotions, high level of distraction, muscle weakness, memory loss and vertigo. These could indicate a biochemical problem.
The second most common question spiritual directors have about psychology is “How can I tell the difference between a meaningful spiritual experience that is paranormal versus hallucinations or delusions?”
Dr. Muszynski says to make that determination, we need to be on the lookout for indicators other than the story about the spiritual experience.
A delusion is a false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everyone else believes and despite what constitutes obvious proof or evidence to the contrary. (Thinking you can fly, for example.)
A hallucination is a sensory perception that has the compelling sense of reality but occurs without external stimulation of the relevant sensory organ.
When someone describes a paranormal experience, notice whether their speech and behavior otherwise appears normal. If they are disorganized, catatonic or appear unemotional (“flat affect”), then it may be a psychotic process. If their life is otherwise normal and the experience they are sharing is consistent with their values and beliefs, it is probably NOT a psychotic process at work.
For example, if a person is talking very fast and with great animation and telling you that they are God and you know this person to be from the Christian tradition (where humans are decidedly not seen as God), then you would be wise to be skeptical of the person’s “religious experience.” However, if a devout Catholic has an experience in which they see The Blessed Virgin and she tells them to pray more often, there would be no cause for alarm.
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