What a Difference 35 Years Can Make

Abstract

AbstractI review changes in social trends, psychological science, psychotherapy practice, and theology— which have been so profound they have often seemed like revolutions—since the landmark publication by Allen E. Bergin, “Psychotherapy and Religious Values,” in 1980. I attempt to predict some current and future trends that will shape the practice and research in the treatment of religious people for psychological disorders, including theological changes toward more open theology, less doctrinally centered religions, more attention to individual spirituality, and more relational psychology and theology. In the field of psychotherapy research, efficacy studies are no longer the gold standard of research, replaced by large trials demonstrating effectiveness and dissemination. The expensive research required will likely cut the amount of research done on religiously and spiritually accommodated treatments; thus winnowing of treatments is likely in the future. Practitioners will need to become competent to counsel people using many religious and spiritual accommodations. I acknowledge that predicting the future accurately is at best tentative, and I urge that this be read with circumspection.