Empirical research on religion and psychotherapeutic processes and outcomes: A 10-year review and research prospectus.

Cultural constructions of marriage have developed to form 2 marital values orientations. These marital values can be understood along a continuum from covenantal at 1 pole to contractual at the other pole. Covenantal marital values prioritize individual sacrifice for the marriage to promote marital health, commitment, and vow taking to resolve conflict, the collective dyad as the primary unit of the marriage, and often spiritual intervention as a primary means of restoring order. Contractual marital values prioritize individual self‐actualization to promote marital health, negotiation, and mutual agreement to resolve conflict, the individual as the primary unit of the marriage, and clinical and psychological interventions as a primary means of restoring order. The authors developed a 26‐item scale to measure contractual and covenantal marital values. In 3 studies examining a total of 786 student and community participants, the factor structure of the scale was evaluated, and convergent and discriminant construct validity, item internal consistency, and 4‐week test–retest reliability were examined.

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Covenantal and contractual values in marriage: Marital Values Orientation toward Wedlock or Self-actualization (Marital VOWS) Scale

Ripley

Worthington

Bromley

et al. 2005

Personal Relationships

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Not Just a Time‐Out: Change Dynamics of Prayer for Religious Couples in Conflict Situations

Butler¹,

Gardner²,

Bird³

1998

Family Process

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For religious couples, the spiritual domain stands alongside biological, psychological, and systemic domains as an influence upon interaction and mechanism for change. A qualitative methodology consisting of structured interviews of religious spouses was used to investigate effects of prayer on couple interaction during conflict. A reliable description of the dynamics of prayer across spouse interviews was extracted by four analysts using a group interpretive procedure. Findings suggest that prayer invokes a couple-God system, which significantly influences couple interaction during conflict. Overall, prayer appears to be a significant "softening" event for religious couples, facilitating reconciliation and problem solving. Prayer 1) invokes an experience of relationship with Deity; 2) deescalates hostile emotions and reduces emotional reactivity; 3) enhances relationship and partner orientation and behavior; 4) facilitates empathy and unbiased perspective; 5) increases self-change focus; and 6) encourages couple responsibility for reconciliation and problem solving. Therapists' support of religious couples' use of prayer as a change mechanism is considered.

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A Therapy Group on Spiritual Issues for Patients With Chronic Mental Illness

Kehoe

1999

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The author describes experiences gained over 18 years of conducting a therapy group for chronically ill psychiatric patients that focuses on spiritual beliefs and values. The group is held in a day treatment center and is attended by both men and women, whose ages have ranged from 22 to 60 years. Staff concerns that discussion of religious and spiritual material would foster patients' delusional ideation or strengthen their defenses and be counterproductive to treatment or that patients could not tolerate diverse systems of beliefs have not been borne out. Such groups foster tolerance, self-awareness, and nonpathogenic therapeutic exploration of value systems. Group rules contributing to its success are tolerance of diversity, respect of others' beliefs, a ban on proselytizing, and open membership.

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Empirical research on religion and psychotherapeutic processes and outcomes: A 10-year review and research prospectus.

Cited by 11 publications

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Covenantal and contractual values in marriage: Marital Values Orientation toward Wedlock or Self-actualization (Marital VOWS) Scale

Covenantal and contractual values in marriage: Marital Values Orientation toward Wedlock or Self-actualization (Marital VOWS) Scale

Not Just a Time‐Out: Change Dynamics of Prayer for Religious Couples in Conflict Situations

A Therapy Group on Spiritual Issues for Patients With Chronic Mental Illness

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