Spiritual and meditation-induced crises

Establishing a new counseling focus at IGPP

Abstract

Psychospiritual and consciousness-modulating practices, primarily meditation, are becoming increasingly popular in Western societies. Such practices are used for a wide range of both secular and spiritual purposes. The growth-promoting and salutogenic effects of meditation practices are well documented by empirical research. While the focus of research has long been almost exclusively on the positive effects of such practices, there is a growing awareness that they are not beneficial in all contexts and for everyone. Crises and problems of this kind have been discussed as early as the 1980s and 1990s under the term “spiritual crises”. More recently, the subject has aroused renewed research interest, with a focus on meditation practice, under the term “adverse effects of meditation”. Based on an edited volume on spirituality and spiritual crises and an empirical study on the adverse effects of meditation, the authors of this article and colleagues have developed essential theoretical, practice-oriented, therapeutic-counseling and empirical foundations on the subject of “spiritual and meditation-induced crises”. The next step was to promote the transfer of the knowledge gained into therapeutic and counseling practice in order to contribute to improving the range of care available to those affected. To this end, a new counseling center for “spiritual and meditation-induced crises” was established at the Freiburg Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health. This article provides an overview of the objectives of the counseling service, describing typical concerns of those approaching us to seek advice, as well as the specific procedures used in the counseling work. The article concludes with presenting some examples of counseling cases.