Religiously adapted CBT

Domain VII · Transpersonal, psychedelic & altered states · Ciarrocchi, Schechter, Michelle Pearce · 2014 · Duke University, USA

What it is

What it is: a manualised, individual CBT for depression (developed for people with chronic medical illness) in which standard CBT tools (behavioural activation, thought monitoring, disputation, relapse prevention) are kept, and the client's own religious beliefs, practices, texts and community are…

Format

• Format:
• 10 individual sessions over about 12 weeks; 50 minutes (Session 1 may run 5-10 minutes longer; any session may be extended about 10 minutes, and uncovered material carries into the next session's review). Trial delivery was by phone, Skype or instant messaging by master's-level counsellors, using a…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• What it is: a manualised, individual CBT for depression (developed for people with chronic medical illness) in which standard CBT tools (behavioural activation, thought monitoring, disputation, relapse prevention) are kept, and the client's own religious beliefs, practices, texts and community are…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• self-blame; keep a learning frame.
• imposing growth on someone still in acute grief.
• anxiety about ending; residual risk needing ongoing care.
• over-giving or martyrdom patterns; service as atonement for guilt.
• alternatives that dismiss real pain; validate before offering views.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.