Sabbath and rest

Domain XV · Nature, philosophy, social & rites of passage

What it is

Sabbath and rest is not a psychotherapy and has no treatment manual. It is a weekly practice of stopping work, rooted in religious law and custom and, more recently, in secular adaptations. A psychotherapist works with it in four ways: assessing how a client rests and what blocks rest; helping a…

Format

• No source sets phases, session counts or a format for therapy that works with sabbath and rest. The structure below is. It is built from the CFI supplementary module, the recovery-experience model, IOCDF's ERP guidance and the traditions' published teachings. It is woven into ongoing therapy rather…
• Sabbath and rest is not a psychotherapy and has no treatment manual. It is a weekly practice of stopping work, rooted in religious law and custom and, more recently, in secular adaptations. A psychotherapist works with it in four ways: assessing how a client rests and what blocks rest; helping a…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Recovery research. Sonnentag and Fritz (2007) identify four off-work recovery experiences: psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery and control. A meta-analysis (Wendsche and Lohmann-Haislah 2016; 86 publications) found that higher detachment goes with less exhaustion, better well-being,…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• 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?
• 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

• guilt at not resting "properly"; carers' own burnout. Working: a protected rest block that holds up in the client's real life.
• all-or-nothing thinking after a missed week. Working: the client gets back to the practice after a lapse without needing a session.
• depression worsening on unstructured days; suicidality (see section 5). Working: mood on rest days improves, or at least stops falling.
• a rest day that only increases anxiety: graded steps and work on the function of overwork come first. Working: the client tolerates short work-free periods with falling distress.
• rest described only as collapse or recovery from illness (possible depression or burnout needing its own assessment); a great deal of work-related activity in non-work time, which Wendsche and…

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.