Psychology & Spiritualtiy 1

Framing the Conversation Between Psychology and Spirituality

The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality

Edited by Lisa Miller

New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012. 634 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-972992-0. $150.00

Reviewed by Louis Hoffman, Juanita Ratner, and Sivan Wilson

Louis Hoffman, Saybrook University, 747 Front Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94111-

1920. E-mail: lhoffman@saybrook.edu

Copyright American Psychological Association. This article may not exactly replicate the final
version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.
http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psyccritiques/

DOI of final published version: 10.1037/a0032101

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The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality proposes to take the psychology,

religion, and spirituality dialogue in a new direction. The emphasis is rooted in the linguistic

choices of the title. First, historically the focus in psychology has been more on religion than

spirituality. More recently, this has begun to change, as a casual perusing of book titles by major

publishers easily demonstrates. Second, the focus historically has been on the psychology of

religion, or more recently the psychology of religion and spirituality. The significance of the

word “of” should not be minimized. It places psychology in the prominent place, privileging the

epistemology of psychology over religion. Given that much of psychology has been rooted in

positivistic epistemological assumptions combined with materialistic ontological and

metaphysical assumptions, many feel that the “psychology of” implicitly includes a bias against

religion and spirituality.

In addition to the implications of the title, there are numerous other factors making this

contribution, edited by Lisa Miller, worth the weighty read of over 600 pages. In particular, the

39 chapters impressively include many of the most prominent contemporary voices in the field

while covering a wide range of the most influential topics. The scope of the Handbook’s chapters

reveals a broad spectrum of epistemological understandings and interests as well as practical

applications and inferences. As might be predicted, many chapters overlap in reviewing basic

definitions of spirituality and religion, each slightly to significantly varying from others. Several

chapters explore philosophical, theological, and psychological aspects of major religious and

spiritual traditions of East and West. Although some might find the lack of unity problematic,

given this field integrates many forms of diversity, we view this as a strength.

Limitations
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In advocating for moving to “psychology and spirituality,” Miller and colleagues propose

to place psychology on equal ground in order to encourage a dialogue between psychology and

spirituality that does not privilege the epistemology of psychology or spirituality, but rather

encourages dialogue between these disciplines. This is a noble effort, but not without its

limitations. In the introduction, Miller assertively advocates for a change in the philosophical

assumptions of contemporary psychology while identifying limitations evident in the biases of

mainstream psychology. In large part, she objects to the psychology of religion and spirituality

because of commonly held biases against the spiritual beliefs. Instead, she advocates for a

perspective that explicitly includes a place for spirituality: a position equally as biased. The

concern we would raise is not against creating a space for psychology and spirituality dialoguing

as equal partners. This is desperately needed. However, we would caution against privileging any

approach. There is a place for the psychology of spirituality just as there is a place for

psychology and spirituality. These approaches should be in dialogue with each other, not arguing

for the privileged placement.

Second, Miller and colleagues often generalize about psychology, on the basis of the

perceived assumptions of mainstream psychology. In general, we agree with the appraisals and

critiques of mainstream psychology advocated by Miller and many of the contributors. However,

there are many established and influential alternative perspectives whose contributions to

psychology and spirituality are ignored. For instance, humanistic psychology has advanced many

similar critiques of mainstream psychology, yet it is hardly mentioned. One wonders if it is not

connected to a similar bias against humanistic psychology that is held by many religious and

spiritual psychologists, in which humanistic psychology is confused with secular humanism and

the very word humanistic is often used in a derogatory manner.

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Finally, Miller, in her opening chapters, suggests a particular use of language that she

insinuates is shared and utilized by the various contributors. However, already in the second

chapter, it is evident that authors are not using the language as consistently as Miller suggested.

In general, Miller’s introduction suggests much more agreement between the various authors

than what is experienced when reading the rest of the volume, which rather highlights ongoing

areas of dialogue and debate within the field.

Yet, we would want to emphasize an important limitation to these critiques. The three

critiques advanced here focus on the situating or contextualizing of the book, not the majority of

the content. If one can look beyond these limitations in the framing of this project, it is readily

evident that this is a very important book.

Consciousness, Spirituality, and a Postmaterialism

Consciousness has a regular presence throughout the various chapters. Miller, in her

introduction, optimistically looks to the future visioning a deepened understanding of

consciousness. From this perspective, the brain is not the center of consciousness, as it cannot

encompass the strata of all reality, especially those of spiritual significance. Although

consciousness is defined in varied ways by the chapter authors, it is fairly consistently connected

with awareness and a postmaterialist perspective.

The postmaterialist perspective is assumed to be essential for the inclusion of a spiritual

perspective by most contributors. Although there are notable exceptions to the call for a

postmaterialist perspective elsewhere in the literature, such as the nonreductive physicalism

develoloped by Nancey Murphey, Warren Brown, and colleagues (see Brown, Murphey, &

Malony, 1998), the contributors to this volume seem to be in agreement regarding its necessity.

Thus, consciousness is consistently viewed as an important, if not essential, topic in the

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psychology and spirituality dialogues. This is a welcomed inclusion that represents an important

turn in the psychology, religion, and spirituality literature. For many years, there was a strong

separation between the psychology of religion and religious psychologies, which were heavily

populated by Judeo-Christian perspectives, from transpersonal perspectives, which were more

interested in consciousness and spirituality. This separation appears to be dwindling in this

volume that includes many diverse voices. In particular, it is refreshing to see consciousness

considered as a unifying concept.

Highlights and Disappointments

As with any edited book of this size, there are chapters that stand out as particularly

strong as well as chapters that are weaker and likely should not have been included. Some of the

chapters are quite narrow in scope, such as the chapter on the “Assessment of Spirituality and

Religious Sentiment Scale.” This chapter does not fit with the broad scope of the volume and

would have been better as a journal article than a chapter in a handbook. The chapter “Good and

Evil in Religion,” which is an important topic, lacks sufficient depth and engagement with the

relevant literature. In part, the authors of this chapter were overly ambitious in what they tried to

accomplish, which appeared to lead to some problematic generalizations. However, we would

like to focus on the highlights, which were more plentiful than the disappointments.

We appreciate that the book begins with chapters on the philosophical and

epistemological foundations of psychology and spirituality, which is the focus of Part 1. In

particular, Nelson and Slife’s chapter, “Theoretical and Epistemological Foundations,”

introduces the reader to a number of important issues that set the stage for discussions

throughout the book.

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A number of chapters focus on the challenges with religious and spiritual research, which

are plentiful. Some of these are discussed in the first chapter, which provides a history of

research on the psychology of religion. A regular theme that emerges is the reliance upon

reductionist methods and the epistemological challenge of using these methods with spirituality

and religion. Reductionist methods commonly function with materialist or physicalist

assumptions, which are contradictory to most spiritual perspectives. These challenges point

toward the need for more inclusive approaches to research, such as the inclusion of qualitative

and mixed method approaches. Additionally, this points to the necessity of recognizing the

limitations of any research paradigm in ascertaining religious and/or spiritual truth.

Three chapters focus on neuroscience and spirituality. All three of these are very

important and well developed. Newberg (Chapter 31) and Beauregard (Chapter 32) provide nice

overviews of the literature, whereas Geryson focuses more on neuroscience research as it

pertains to one important topic: near-death experiences. Geryson’s chapter has several important

contributions. First, he provides a thorough review of the relevant research, which reveals a

number of consistent themes. For instance, he addresses the decreased fear of death that is

common across a variety of near-death experiences. Second, Greyson addresses the similarity of

near-death experiences across religious and spiritual traditions. Despite this similarity, he notes

that various sectarian groups use near-death experiences to try to prove the truth of their religious

or spiritual beliefs. However, this is a misuse and biased interpretation of the research on near-

death experiences. Individuals from various religious backgrounds have had near-death

experiences, and the experiences could be interpreted as consistent with various religious beliefs.

Various chapters address prayer, mindfulness, and mediation, which are topics that have

generated extensive research in recent years. Semple and Hatt (Chapter 21) offer an important
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contribution to the ongoing dialogue, given the increasing popularity of therapeutic orientations

based on Eastern Buddhist traditions such as DBT and mindfulness-based stress reduction. They

refer to the Tibetan sage Padmasambhava’s forecast of the Dharma coming to the West with an

important caution, “Padmasambhava was said to have cautioned against the teaching of these

profound practices for the liberation of suffering by those who have not received proper

permission from the lineage holders of that tradition” (p. 329). Indeed, some question the

incorporation of these methods, stemming from the originator’s decades of practice, into one’s

therapy practice after a brief introductory course.

It is important to consider what might be lost by turning such deep traditions into

techniques acquired without the depth of spiritual experience and insight behind them. Michael

Dow (2008), speaking to the opportunities and challenges of integrating psychology with

religious and spiritual practices, states,

the dialogue between Buddhism, psychology, and neuroscience holds the potential to

fundamentally expand our understanding of all three domains. However, and perhaps less

commonly considered, such a convergence also holds the potential to reduce each domain

to the epistemological framework of the other, thus impoverishing our worldview. (p. 99)

As Dow notes, such integration has the potential of great benefit. Yet, there is a significant

difference between using mindfulness and meditation solely toward the end of psychological

suffering as compared to using it in the service of a spiritual end that includes the alleviation of

psychological suffering. As the dialogue between spirituality and psychology continues, we must

always keep in mind the losses that come with the gains.

Conclusion
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The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality is a substantial contribution to the

literature. Although we have noted a few limitations, the strengths and impressive aspects of this

volume far outweigh those limitations. Unfortunately, the price and thickness will likely

discourage many potential readers. Yet, it is sure to be a valuable resource for those who do have

access.

References

Brown, W., Murphey, N., & Malony, H. N. (Eds.). (1998). Whatever happened to the soul?

Scientific and theological portraits of human nature. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg

Fortress.

Dow, M. (2008). Buddhism, psychology, and neuroscience: The promises and pitfalls of

neurobiologically informed contemplative psychotherapy. In F. J. Kaklauskas, S.

Nimanheminda, S. Hoffman, L., & Jack, M. (Eds.), Brilliant sanity: Buddhist approaches

to psychotherapy (pp. 99-129). Colorado Springs, CO: University of the Rockies Press.