Spirituality, Language, & Behavioral Transformation

Principle Investigator: Dr. Alvin Dueck

Dr. Dueck’s research laboratory has several foci: reported religious/spiritual experiences by moral exemplars from different religious traditions, theoretical and theological reflections on psychotherapy, scale construction of communal spirituality, and international perspectives on psychotherapy.

Spiritual Transformation in Three Religious Groups: Christianity, Judaism and Islam

This project interviewed moral exemplars from three religious groups: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Participants were asked to describe their experience of spirituality and spiritual transformation. Interviews are analyzed using current computational linguistic programs. The research was funded by a grant from the Metanexus Institute and preliminary results have been reported at various conferences.

Theoretical and Theological Reflections on Psychotherapy

This research group focuses on the intersection of philosophical/social issues with religion accommodating psychotherapy. Dissertations have been written on feminism and therapy, relational psychoanalysis and religious discourse, Jewish resources for therapy, and Augustinian perspectives on psychoanalysis.

Scale Construction of Communal Spirituality

Many of the current instruments assessing spirituality assume it is an individual experience. However, there are religious traditions and cultures that emphasize communal spirituality. The scale has been tested and further studies in validity and reliability are being conducted.

International Perspectives on Psychotherapy

The pattern over the past century has been to export Western psychology to countries developing psychological departments of study. In many parts of the world, these departments now resemble Western approaches to research and therapy. This group explores the nature of indigenous approaches to therapy in religious and non-religious cultures.

Research Team (in alphabetical order): Sabrina Abney, David Choi, Neil Cortez, Lisa Finlay, Adam Ghali, David Goodman, Scott Grover, Steven Huett, Istvan Kasco, Julia Langdal, Sabrina Lee, Christopher Nahumck, Robert Turnbull, Elizabeth Welsh, and Dr. Kevin Reimer