Course Outline

Week 1 — The Clinical Foundations of Spiritually-Informed Psychotherapy

Jun 10, 2026

Definition, ethics, and clinical stance

Module 1: What Is Spiritually-Informed Psychotherapy? 

• Clear definition of SIP
• Distinction from pastoral counseling and spiritually neutral therapy
• Core assumptions about meaning, suffering, and healing
• Ethical boundaries and scope of practice
• Why clients are increasingly bringing spiritual concerns into therapy

Module 2: The Neurobiology of Spirituality 

• Lisa Miller’s research on innate spiritual capacity
• Brain-based correlates of prayer, meditation, and transcendence
• Spirituality, depression, and suicidality
• Meaning-making and the nervous system
• Brief discussion: emerging terrain (psychedelics, AI, spiritual technologies)

Outcome: Participants understand SIP as clinically grounded, ethically responsible, and empirically informed.

Week 2 — Intrapsychic & Embodied Spirituality

Jun 17, 2026

Symbol, neurobiology, contemplative practice

Module 1: Spirituality in Attachment and Couple/Family Systems

• God images and attachment patterns
• Intergenerational transmission of belief
• Spiritual rupture and repair
• Bowenian and depth perspectives

Module 2: Depth Psychology and the Sacred Psyche 

• Jungian concepts: symbol, archetype, shadow, collective unconscious
• Dreams as psychological and spiritual data
• Inflation, projection, and discernment
• The role of imaginal and symbolic material in treatment

Outcome: Clinicians can recognize and work with symbolic and embodied spiritual material responsibly.

Week 3 — Assessment & Meaning-Making

Jun 24, 2026

Spiritual history, formulation, existential crisis

Module 1: Spiritual Assessment in Clinical Practice 

• Spiritual genograms and lifemaps
• Open-ended spiritual inquiry
• Assessing spiritual struggle vs psychopathology
• Documentation and case formulation.

Module 2: Spiritual Struggle, Trauma, and Loss of Meaning

• Religious trauma
• Moral distress and shame
• Deconstruction and spiritual crisis
• Suicidality and collapse of meaning
• Case application

Outcome: Participants can assess and integrate spirituality into formulation and treatment planning.

Week 4 — Relational & Familial Spirituality

Jul 1, 2026

Module 1: Embodiment, Regulation, and Spiritual Practice 

• Mindfulness and contemplative practices in psychotherapy
• Spiritual bypass vs integration
• Nervous system regulation and spiritual experience
• When and how to incorporate practice clinically

Attachment, systems, gender, intimacy

Module 2: Gender, Sexuality, and Spiritual Narratives 

• Mythosymbolic frameworks
• Re-translation of inherited narratives
• Clinical humility in diverse spiritual identities
• Working at the intersection of sexuality and faith

Outcome: Clinicians can locate spirituality within relational and family systems.

Week 5 — Collective & Cultural Spirituality

Jul 8, 2026

Justice, trauma, epistemic humility

Module 1: Spirituality, Power, and Collective Trauma 

• Colonialism and epistemic dominance
• Indigenous knowledge and ethical integration
• Spiritual bypass in social justice contexts
• Collective grief and moral injury

Module 2: Cultural Humility and Anti-Oppressive Practice in SIP 

• Religious literacy vs spiritual humility
• Working across traditions without appropriation
• Centering marginalized sacred traditions
• Case consultation

Outcome: SIP is situated within cultural and collective realities, not treated as purely individual.

Week 6 — Clinical Integration & Discernment

Jul 15, 2026

Case-based synthesis and professional identity

Module 1: Clinical Integration Lab 

• Small group case formulation
• Multi-level analysis (intrapsychic, relational, collective)
• Ethical discernment
• Treatment planning

Module 2: The Formation of the SIP Clinician 

• Common pitfalls in early SIP practice
• Spiritual inflation, bypass, and overreach
• When to deepen, when to slow down, when to refer
• Articulating your clinical stance ethically and clearly