Understanding Your Spiritual Landscape: How Exploring Beliefs and Resources Supports Healing

Kevin Todd Brough, M.A., MFT

Balance Your Health Blog | Ascend Counseling & Wellness

“The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.” — Henri J.M. Nouwen

In my years of clinical work, I have consistently observed that our spiritual beliefs—whether we identify with a religious tradition, consider ourselves spiritual but not religious, embrace secular humanism, or are still searching—profoundly shape how we experience life’s challenges and opportunities for healing. The research increasingly confirms what many of us intuitively understand: spirituality matters for mental health.

A comprehensive review of over 3,000 empirical studies found that the majority demonstrate positive associations between spiritual and religious beliefs and mental health outcomes, including lower rates of depression, reduced anxiety, and decreased risk of suicide (Koenig, 2012). More recently, a 2023 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that spiritually-integrated therapy was moderately more effective than standard treatments, with effect sizes of .52 at post-treatment and .72 at follow-up (van Nieuw Amerongen-Meeuse et al., 2023).

Yet here is what makes this more nuanced: how we relate to spirituality matters just as much as whether we engage with it. Not all spiritual beliefs support healing—some can actually compound suffering.

Why Understanding Your Spiritual Landscape Matters

As a marriage and family therapist, I recognize that we are whole beings—not just minds to be analyzed or behaviors to be modified. In the LifeScaping System I have developed over two decades, we work with four integrated aspects of the self: Mind, Heart, Body, and Spirit. Each dimension has its own wisdom, needs, and resources. When these aspects work together in harmony—what I call the Congruent Soul—we access a deeper knowing than any single part can provide alone.

The Spirit dimension encompasses our relationship with meaning, purpose, transcendence, and ultimate values. It addresses fundamental questions: Why am I here? What gives my life meaning? How do I make sense of suffering? Is there something greater than myself that I can connect with?

Research from Hinterberger and Walter (2025) confirms that spirituality can serve as a protective factor, enhancing resilience and providing meaning that benefits mental health. However, the relationship is complex. How we conceptualize the divine or transcendent significantly impacts whether spirituality becomes a source of strength or a source of shame and fear.

The Critical Role of How We See the Divine

One of the most clinically significant discoveries in the psychology of religion concerns what researchers call the “God Image”—the internal, often unconscious representation we hold of God, a Higher Power, or Ultimate Reality. This goes beyond what we might say we believe theologically; it reflects how we experience the divine in our hearts and bodies.

A landmark meta-analysis examining 123 unique samples found that positive God representations—viewing God as loving, compassionate, and trustworthy—are consistently associated with psychological well-being. At the same time, authoritarian or punishing God images correlate with mental health symptoms (Stulp et al., 2019). This finding has profound implications for therapy.

Consider the difference between the two internal frameworks:

Accepting/Loving God Image: A person who experiences God as fundamentally loving, gracious, and compassionate can draw on this relationship for comfort, forgiveness, and hope during difficult times. Their spirituality becomes a wellspring of resilience.

Punishing God Image: A person who experiences God as judgmental, critical, and focused on punishment may live with chronic guilt, shame, and fear. Rather than finding comfort in their faith, they may feel constantly inadequate—never measuring up to impossible standards.

Research by Bradshaw et al. (2010) demonstrated that secure attachment to God is inversely associated with psychological distress, while anxious attachment to God correlates with increased distress. Silton et al. (2013) found that belief in a punitive God was significantly associated with increased social anxiety, paranoia, obsession, and compulsion, while faith in a benevolent God was associated with reductions in these same symptoms.

The therapeutic implications are significant. As Currier and colleagues found in their work with veterans, those who were struggling spiritually—feeling that their difficulties were punishment from God—were less likely to benefit from treatment (Currier et al., 2015). Conversely, those who reported increases in benevolent representations of God over the course of treatment had better clinical outcomes.

Introducing the Spiritual Resources & Beliefs Inventory

To help clients explore this vital dimension of their lives, I developed the Spiritual Resources & Beliefs Inventory as part of the VisionLogic Therapeutic Tools suite within the LifeScaping System. This assessment is designed to honor all spiritual paths—whether you identify with a specific religious tradition, consider yourself spiritual but not religious, embrace secular humanism, or are still searching for what resonates with you.

The inventory explores seven key areas:

1. Spiritual Identity and Background

Understanding how you currently identify spiritually and how your beliefs have evolved over time. This includes exploring your connection to any faith communities and the traditions that have influenced your spiritual life.

2. Spiritual Practices and Resources

Identifying the practices that currently nourish your spirit—prayer, meditation, time in nature, service, creative expression, gratitude practice, or rituals and ceremonies. We also assess how meaningful these practices are to you and where you might want to deepen your engagement.

3. Core Beliefs and God Image

This is where we explore your current perception of God, Higher Power, or Ultimate Reality. Drawing on validated research approaches, you select descriptors that best capture your experience—whether accepting, punishing, distant, or nonexistent. We also explore what gives your life ultimate meaning, your sense of purpose or calling, and how you make sense of suffering.

4. Spiritual Strengths and Resources

Identifying what sustains you during difficult times—which spiritual resources you can draw upon for resilience. We also explore your spiritual gifts and whether you have had experiences you would describe as transcendent or mystical.

5. Spiritual Challenges and Growth Areas

Acknowledging that spiritual growth often involves struggle, this section gently explores any experiences of religious trauma or spiritual harm, faith struggles or doubt, and “spiritual shadows”—patterns like spiritual bypass, perfectionism, or shame that can distort our spirituality.

6. Integration with Daily Life

Exploring how well your spiritual beliefs integrate with your daily choices and actions. Where are the gaps between what you believe and how you live? What is your typical spiritual response when facing difficulty?

7. Reflection and Future Vision

Synthesizing insights from the assessment and envisioning your spiritual life thriving one year from now. What does that look like? What concrete step could you take toward that vision?

How This Assessment Supports Healing

The Spiritual Resources & Beliefs Inventory serves multiple therapeutic purposes:

Identification of Resources: For many people, spiritual beliefs and practices represent significant but underutilized resources. The assessment helps identify what is already working and can be intentionally strengthened.

Recognition of Barriers: Sometimes spiritual beliefs that were meant to heal instead cause harm—rigid dogmatism, toxic shame, spiritual perfectionism. Naming these patterns is the first step toward transformation.

God Image Exploration: The assessment provides a structured way to explore how you actually experience the divine, not just what you think you should believe. When there is a disconnect between “head knowledge” and “heart knowledge,” as researchers at Rosemead School of Psychology have noted, spiritual struggles often follow (Tisdale et al., 2023).

Integration with Whole-Person Healing: Within the LifeScaping System, this inventory connects to the broader work of integrating Mind, Heart, Body, and Spirit. Spiritual health does not exist in isolation—it influences and is influenced by our emotional regulation, thought patterns, and physical well-being.

Clinical Partnership: The assessment generates a profile that can be shared with your therapist, opening essential conversations about how spiritual factors might be supporting or hindering your therapeutic goals. Research consistently shows that mental health professionals should ask patients about spiritual and religious factors to provide holistic, patient-centered care (Moreira-Almeida et al., 2014).

The Path Forward

Spiritual growth is not about having perfect beliefs or maintaining unwavering faith. It is about honest exploration, gentle self-compassion, and the courage to examine what truly sustains us—and what might need to evolve.

As Rumi wrote, “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” Sometimes our spiritual struggles are not obstacles to healing but doorways. A God Image that once felt punishing may need to be reimagined. Practices that once nourished us may need to be released so new ones can emerge. And beliefs we inherited may need to become beliefs we have examined and chosen.

The Spiritual Resources & Beliefs Inventory is one tool in this journey of discovery. It does not tell you what to believe—it helps you understand what you already believe, what resources you already have, and where you might want to grow.

If you would like to explore your own spiritual landscape, the inventory is available at www.visionlogic.org/spiritual.html as part of the VisionLogic Therapeutic Tools. Take your time with it. Be honest. And remember—this is a journey, not a destination.

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” — Rumi

Ascend Counseling and Wellness – ascendcw.com – 435.688.1111 – kevin@ascendcw.com

References

Bradshaw, M., Ellison, C. G., & Marcum, J. P. (2010). Attachment to God, images of God, and psychological distress in a nationwide sample of Presbyterians. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 20(2), 130–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508611003608049

Currier, J. M., Holland, J. M., & Drescher, K. D. (2015). Spirituality factors in the prediction of outcomes of PTSD treatment for U.S. military veterans. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28(1), 57–64. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21978

Hinterberger, T., & Walter, N. (2025). Spirituality and mental health—investigating the association between spiritual attitudes and psychosomatic treatment outcomes. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, Article 1497630. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1497630

Koenig, H. G. (2012). Religion, spirituality, and health: The research and clinical implications. International Scholarly Research Notices: Psychiatry, 2012, Article 278730. https://doi.org/10.5402/2012/278730

Moreira-Almeida, A., Koenig, H. G., & Lucchetti, G. (2014). Clinical implications of spirituality to mental health: Review of evidence and practical guidelines. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 36(2), 176–182. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2013-1255

Silton, N. R., Flannelly, K. J., Galek, K., & Ellison, C. G. (2013). Beliefs about God and mental health among American adults. Journal of Religion and Health, 53(5), 1285–1296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9712-3

Stulp, H. P., Koelen, J., Schep-Akkerman, A., Glas, G., & Eurelings-Bontekoe, E. (2019). God representations and aspects of psychological functioning: A meta-analysis. Cogent Psychology, 6(1), Article 1647926. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2019.1647926

Tisdale, T. C., Key, T. L., Edwards, K. J., & Hancock, T. (2023). Doctrinal and experiential God representations: Spiritual struggle and psychological well-being in seminarians. Journal of Psychology and Theology. Advance online publication.

van Nieuw Amerongen-Meeuse, J. C., Segal, Z., & van der Heijden, P. (2023). The evaluation of religious and spirituality-based therapy compared to standard treatment in mental health care: A multi-level meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Psychotherapy Research, 34(3), 339–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2023.2241626

About the Author

Kevin Todd Brough, M.A., MFT, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at Ascend Counseling & Wellness / Center for Couples & Families in St. George, Utah. He is the developer of the LifeScaping System and VisionLogic Therapeutic Tools. Kevin integrates evidence-based approaches, including CBT, DBT, ACT, Ericksonian hypnotherapy, and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, with a holistic understanding of Mind, Heart, Body, and Spirit. His work draws on over two decades of experience teaching personal development and recovery principles.

Learn more at www.visionlogic.org or www.ascendcw.com