An Unsacred Silence: Conceptualizing Religious Dynamics in Group Psychotherapy

This chapter provides a framework for conceptualizing religious dynamics in group psychotherapy, including implications for training and practice. The authors outline six dimensions of religious experience: 1) ritual; 2) mythological; 3) doctrinal; 4) ethical; 5) social; and 6) experiential; and illustrate how familiarity with and curiosity about the religious and spiritual orientations of participants can enhance treatment in religiously and culturally homogeneous or heterogeneous interpersonal process groups. Suggestions for clinical practice are provided based on existing literature about cultural factors related to group work and a relevant case study of an ethno-religiously homogeneous interpersonal process group in Jerusalem, Israel which is facilitated by a therapist from the same community.