Pilot study of a CBT-based intervention for promoting spiritual experience among men in residential addiction treatment

A 10-session group psychotherapy intervention, grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy but designed to open participants to spiritual experience, was tested for feasibility and preliminary efficacy in 15 men with long-term substance use and a history of incarceration living in a residential treatment program. All scales measuring spirituality, mystical experience, healing, and well-being showed statistically significant improvements from before to after the intervention. Fourteen of the 15 men reported a very strong or extreme spiritual experience. The pattern and magnitude of change were similar across two sequential cohorts, suggesting replicability. The authors conclude the intervention is feasible and warrants further study, though the lack of a control group limits conclusions about efficacy.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies claim a healing effect on psychological and medical symptoms beyond the biopsychosocial construct of medicine to include a “spiritual” aspect with added experience of wholeness and well-being. A recommendation for the development of a human ontological model for research of this spiritual domain has been suggested. The objective of this study was to test feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a non-psychedelic CBT-based psychotherapeutic intervention in men with long-term substance use and a history of incarceration as such a model. Methods: Fifteen male residents of a long-term residential addiction treatment program received a 10-session manualized group psychotherapy intervention focused on opening experience to a spiritual level and providing emotional healing and greater well-being. Effects were measured with pre- and post-intervention psychological, healing, well-being and spiritual/mystical/ numinous assessments. The Intervention was done sequentially on two cohorts to assess replicability. Scales included ASPIRES (Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments Scale), NMI (Numinous Motivation Inventory), Hood Mysticism Scale, NIH-HEALS (NIH-Healing Experience of All Life Stressors Scale), WEMWBS (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale). Results: All scales’ Total scores showed statistically significant improvements post-intervention. The pattern and magnitude of change was similar for both treatment groups with 14 of 15 men self-reported a Very Strong (4 on scale of 1-5) or Extreme spiritual experience with this intervention. Conclusions: This study demonstrated feasibility and preliminary efficacy of CBT-based model for a short-term group psychotherapeutic intervention to promote spiritual experience with emotional healing characteristics in men with addiction and post-incarceration in a residential treatment setting. Demonstration of this intervention, that impacts a spiritual level of experience, provides a foundation from which to study the extent of its abilities, compare with current treatments, and identify its unique healing elements. This study adds to the body of knowledge of identifying the role of spirituality in the biopsychosocial model of medicine. Results similar to studies with psychedelic medications suggest usefulness in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Inability to provide a control group limits specificity of results and determining the extent of efficacy and inclusion of only male participants with addiction and incarceration in a residential treatment program limits the scope of feasibility determination.