Spiritual bypassing (Welwood, 1984) refers to the use of spirituality to avoid dealing with psychological factors important to psychological wellbeing.
The phenomenon was known to psychotherapists who observed people using their religiosity or spirituality to avoid doing the hard work needed to deal with their mental health issues.
The construct was operationally defined by Fox and others (2017) in the Spiritual Bypass Scale. Two factors appear to represent the construct: One is Psychological Avoidance and the other is Spiritualizing.
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A spiritual bypass is analogous to a drug that temporarily reduces distress without offering a long-lasting cure.
A spiritual bypass may be evident in sayings that distract a patient from their symptoms or getting the treatment they need.
A few examples:
"When God closes a door, He opens a window."
"All things happen for a reason."
"God doesn't give you more than you can handle."
"God will protect you."
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
"God has you in the palm of his hand."
"I'll pray about it."
"God works in mysterious ways."
Although some find the foregoing sayings comforting, the expressions may interfere with health or mental health if they are used to avoid treatment or end treatment too soon. Thus the examples are not about a particular saying or belief, but rather cues to think about any spiritual message that is a barrier to improved functioning.
Hypothesis: Patients prone to using a spiritual bypass may benefit from faith-based counseling or pastoral counseling.
Related post
See the Spiritual Bypass Scale
Fox, J.,
Cashwell, C. S., & Picciotto, G. (2017). The opiate of the masses:
Measuring spiritual bypass and its relationship to spirituality, religion,
mindfulness, psychological distress, and personality. Spirituality in
Clinical Practice, 4(4), 274-287. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/scp0000141
Sutton, G. W. (2023, September 4). Spiritual bypassing and psychotherapy. PSYCHOLOGY Concepts and Theories. Retrieved from https://suttonpsychology.blogspot.com/2023/09/spiritual-bypassing-and-psychotherapy.html
Welwood, J.
(1984). Principles of inner work: Psychological and spiritual. Journal of
Transpersonal Psychology, 16, 63–73.
Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is www.suttong.com
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For measures related to Spirituality and Religiosity, see
Assessing Spirituality and Religiosity
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