Abstract
Many would say that we are part of something bigger and that there is much in this world we do not understand. Our souls need nourishment to feel alive, which we could call a spiritual journey. Spirituality is a complex phenomenon containing many different concepts. It concerns our life force and is expressed through culture, tradition, discourses, and experience. Spirituality, religion, faith, and soul are, for many, integral parts of life and its meaning-making through other materialities. As such, they belong to transmaterialism and worlding beyond human systems.
Spirituality has been too long absent from systemic therapy; we argue that it deserves a clearer place in it. Postmodernist, social constructionist, systemic thinking invites us to take a closer look at how we construct our relationships based on our assumptions, beliefs, and values, and how these form part of our identity.
We recognise that not all spirituality is life-giving, and that it can divide and remove us from ourselves. However, it can also provide an unshakeable foundation for compassion, love, and connection, not only with other humans but also with the natural world around us, which, like the human world, is imbued with soul and meaning.
In this article, we explore how systemic practitioners can develop spiritual literacy and integrate spirituality into their practice by using reflectivity, contextual reflectivity, and reflexivity. By reflecting critically on our practice and allowing ourselves time for deeper reflection, we can develop our language and approach. Connecting transmaterial worlding to spirituality can be seen as an invitation to broaden our understanding of how identities, relationships, and realities are formed through a complex network of interactions that extend well beyond the human or material realm. This offers us the chance to reconsider how we think about connection, responsibility, and interaction in an increasingly interconnected world. We aim to demystify the role of spirituality in systemic therapeutic settings by encouraging practitioners to embrace the rich tapestry of stories and experiences that define a person's spiritual journey. We hope to inspire a renewed appreciation of the connection between spirituality and therapy and ultimately foster an environment where everyone can feel seen, heard, and valued on their unique spiritual journey.