Spiritual directors and clinical psychologists: A comparison of mental health and spiritual values

We surveyed a total of 315 spiritual directors, psychologist members of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS), and psychologist m embers of the American Psychological Association (APA) to determine their r espective values on ten mental health themes derived from Jensen and Bergin (1988), and three spirituality scales drawn from the writings of John of t he Cross. All three groups endorsed the value of expressing feelings, perso nal autonomy and maturity, and integrating work and leisure. CAPS psycholog ists and spiritual directors endorsed more than APA psychologists the value s of spirituality, forgiveness, and the three John of the Cross scales. Spi ritual directors reported greater endorsement of the self-awareness and gro wth theme than did psychodynamic psychologists who, in turn, reported great er endorsement than cognitive-behavioral psychologists. The results are exa mined in light of the pre-Enlightenment paradigm and value system in which spiritual direction and Christian theology are rooted.