The research on Psychotherapy that integrates Jewish Spiritually in Israel is conducted by Prof. Ofra Mayseless from the University of Haifa and Dr. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro from Zefat Academic College. This study is part of a wide international research project involving dozens of research teams around the world. The aim of the international project is to expand and deepen the research foundation and knowledge of the integration between psychotherapy and spirituality. The international research and the Israeli research are supported by the John Templeton Foundation and the participation and direction of Brigham Young University, located in Utah, USA.
The Israeli Research Project – Jewish Spirituality Integrated Psychotherapy in Israel
The principal investigators of the Israeli research project are Prof. Ofra Mayseless from the University of Haifa and Dr. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro from Zefat Academic College. The coordinator of the project is Ms. Liat Zucker.
The Israeli research team is one of approximately twenty research teams around the world participating in this innovative and wide-ranging international research project.
This is a groundbreaking project, both in the international context and in the Israeli context. For the first time Jewish spirituality integrated psychotherapy methods are being studied in order to understand how they are carried out, what mental states they deal with, what actually happens during such treatment, what kind of psychological and spiritual interventions are implemented, how helpful they are to patients, what are the similarities and differences between different therapeutic approaches, and more. As part of the study clinicians and clients report on each session, clients on their concerns, insights and changes that they have undergone, and clinicians on the interventions they have performed. In addition, clinicians are interviewed about their therapeutic approaches and methods, what the integration between Judaism and psychotherapy looks like, and the way in which they incorporate spirituality into therapy.
International collaborative Research Project – Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy
For most of the 20th century, mainstream healthcare professionals have ignored the role of spirituality in therapeutic healing. Recently this has changed as scholars and practitioners have started to discuss and apply a variety of spiritual treatment approaches, grounded in the healing practices of both Western and Eastern spiritual traditions (e.g., prayer, meditation, gratitude, love, forgiveness, altruistic service). Although research has started to examine these approaches, there is still paucity in our research-based knowledge on them. Without a larger and more thorough research base, spiritual approaches will remain at the fringes of the mental health and medical fields, which will deprive many people of access to sensitive and effective services.
The Consortium for Spiritually Centered Psychology and Education, which resides in the David O. McKay School of Education at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, has initiated a research project, Enhancing Practice-Based Evidence for Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies: An Interdisciplinary Big Data Project, supported with funding from the John Templeton Foundation. This research initiative is dedicated to creating an international interdisciplinary collaborative network of researchers and practitioners to contribute to research and practice concerned with spiritually integrated psychotherapy.
The project is a “practice as usual” study of spiritually integrated psychotherapy with 21 different collaborating research teams in North America, Israel, and several additional countries. Each of the researchers, and their research teams, collaborate with Professor Richards by using an Internet-based “Bridges Assessment System” to contribute to a “big data” set. This is the largest study of spiritually integrated psychotherapies ever conducted.
http://www.bridgesconsortium.net/grant-projects/
