AFTA SPRINGER BRIEFS IN FAMILY THERAPY David Trimble Editor Engaging with Spirituality in Family Therapy Meeting in Sacred Space 123 AFTA SpringerBriefs in Family Therapy A Publication of the American Family Therapy Academy Founded in 1977, the American Family Therapy Academy is a non-profit organization of leading family therapy teachers, clinicians, program directors, policymakers, researchers, and social scientists dedicated to advancing systemic thinking and practices for families in their social context. Vision AFTA envisions a just world by transforming social contexts that promote health, safety, and well-being of all families and communities. Mission AFTA’s mission is developing, researching, teaching, and disseminating progressive, just family therapy and family-centered practices and policies. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11846 David Trimble Editor Engaging with Spirituality in Family Therapy Meeting in Sacred Space Editor David Trimble Division of Psychiatry Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology Boston University School of Medicine Boston, MA, USA Boston Institute for Culturally Affirming Practices Boston, MA, USA ISSN 2196-5528 ISSN 2196-5536 (electronic) AFTA SpringerBriefs in Family Therapy ISBN 978-3-319-77409-1 ISBN 978-3-319-77410-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77410-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018940505 © American Family Therapy Academy 2018 This work is subject to copyright. 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AFTA’s core commitment to equality, social responsibility, and justice are represented in each volume. In Engaging with Spirituality in Family Therapy: Meeting in Sacred Space, David Trimble and the chapter authors step beyond the boundaries of usual clinical/ professional discourse to open themselves to generative dialogue with each other and with readers. Chapter after chapter, the authors share their own journeys as self- reflective spiritual beings working with families. Representing diverse spiritual tra- ditions and metaphysical practices, the authors describe how they simultaneously engage with clients’ spiritual lives and their own experiences of the Divine. It is impossible to read the book without being deeply moved and, in some way, transformed by the vulnerability and professionalism of the authors as they invite readers to move beyond thinking of spirituality as an instrumental characteristic of clients to viewing therapy as a potentially sacred space where multiple spiritual perspectives and experiences are honored and engaged. In so doing, they model inspiration for cultural transformation and challenge family therapists to consider how they may contribute to an ethical dialogical approach to spirituality. Lewis & Clark College Carmen Knudson-Martin Portland, OR, USA v Contents From the Margins to the Center: Generative Possibilities in Multicultural Dialogue on Spirituality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 David Trimble Family Therapy With Palestinian Arabs: Building on Inherent Habits of Spirituality for Psychological Well-Being . . . . . . . . 15 Khawla Abu-Baker An Unknown, Unnamable Journey: Family Therapists in Complex Conversations as Muslim and Sikh Immigrants . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Kiran Arora and Saliha Bava The Gift That Keeps on Giving: Culturally Relevant Integration of Spirituality in Family Therapy With African American Families . . . . . 49 Paulette Hines Harnessing Spirituality Within Traditional Healing Systems: A Personal Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Hugo Kamya The Tao As & Of Spiritual Healing: Reframing Reconciliation and Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Jay T. King Meaning Making Through Family Constellation Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Linda Longo-Lockspeiser Vision Quest: The Intersection of Native American Spirituality and Family Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Rockey Robbins vii viii Contents A Conversation in Sacred Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 David Trimble, Khawla Abu-Baker, Kiran Arora, Saliha Bava, Paulette Hines, Hugo Kamya, Jay King, Linda Longo-Lockspeiser, and Rockey Robbins Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Contributors Khawla Abu-Baker Alqasemi College of Education, Baqa Alqarbia, Israel Western Galilee College, Israel Kiran Arora Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA Saliha Bava Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY, USA Houston Galveston Institute, Houston, TX, USA Taos Institute, Chagrin Falls, OH, USA Paulette Hines Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (Emerita), Piscataway, NJ, USA Hugo Kamya School of Social Work, Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA Boston Institute for Culturally Affirming Practices, Boston, MA, USA Jay T. King Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, USA Boston Institute for Culturally Affirming Practices, Boston, MA, USA Linda Longo-Lockspeiser Private Psychotherapy Practice, Valley Stream, NY, USA Rockey Robbins Department of Educational Psychology (Counseling), University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA David  Trimble Division of Psychiatry, Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA Boston Institute for Culturally Affirming Practices, Boston, MA, USA ix From the Margins to the Center: Generative Possibilities in Multicultural Dialogue on Spirituality David Trimble Introduction: Why This Particular Book? Spirituality is recognized as an important dimension of family therapy practice (Walsh, 2009). This book explores generative possibilities in a multicultural exchange among family therapists actively engaged as spiritual beings in our work. Drawing on Rivett and Street’s (2001) distinction between “instrumental” and “metaphysical” family therapy practice, we know how to make instrumental use of our clients’ own religious and/or spiritual practices in the service of healing. We are challenging ourselves to go further, sharing our own metaphysical practices as self- reflective, embodied spiritual beings working with families. How do we engage simultaneously with our clients’ spiritual lives and with our own experiences of the Divine? Family therapy affords its own lenses on an intercultural exchange about spiritu- ality and religion. Family therapy began by expanding the lens of treatment beyond the boundaries of the individual, and continues to expand the lens to include net- work, community, society, culture, and the well-being of our planet. Family thera- pists’ postmodern lens opens conversation to meanings that emerge in the “space between” participants in dialogue. We have sought that generative space in the con- versations that shape this book. I am grateful for this phrase from bell hooks’ (1984) work on resisting the marginalization of discourses. D. Trimble (*) Division of Psychiatry, Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA Boston Institute for Culturally Affirming Practices, Boston, MA, USA e-mail: [email protected] © American Family Therapy Academy 2018 1 D. Trimble (ed.), Engaging with Spirituality in Family Therapy, AFTA SpringerBriefs in Family Therapy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77410-7_1