These days the word ‘spirituality’ is often preferred over ‘religion’, because spirituality is not connected with the organizational side of religion. The religious part, whatever that may be, is not rejected, but finds an expression that is not confined by the thoughts and rules of church.
In this article we tackle the question whether person centered psychotherapists should account for spirituality in their work, and if so, how? These questions will be answered along the lines of life and work of Carl Rogers. His struggle with religion and spirituality turns out to be very inspirational and meaningful in the world of today. Using his insights, we come up with arguments on how and under which conditions spirituality could be incorporated in person centered psychotherapy, and what concrete shape this may take.
spirituality, person-centered psychotherapy, Carl Rogers, atheistic spirituality
The tPeP (Journal Person-centered experiential Psychotherapy) is the scientific journal for Dutch and Flemish psychotherapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, that work from, or are interested in a client-centered perspective.
