Exploring the Disclosure of Spiritual Experience in the Helping Professions

Exploring the Disclosure of Spiritual Experience in the Helping Professions
Saturday 16 May | 10:00–16:00
Nucleus Building, University of Edinburgh

What happens when clients share experiences that fall outside of what we are trained to consider “possible”?

This one-day professional development workshop is designed for practitioners in the helping professions to better understand and support Spiritually Orientated Non-Ordinary Experiences (SONOEs).

Despite being common and often transformative, SONOEs frequently remain unspoken in clinical and professional settings. This event aims to create a safe space for professionals to explore these narratives and how they might be integrated into the helping process rather than dismissed.

This event is tailored for professionals in:

• Therapy and Coaching: Counsellors, psychotherapists, and supervisors.
• Support Roles: Chaplains, pastoral workers, and community leaders.
• Healthcare and Education: Mental health practitioners and educators.
• What to Expect

This is an active, reflective day featuring:

• Creative Engagement: Working with published accounts of SONOEs and semi-structured journaling (provided).
• Professional Dialogue: Focus group discussions with fellow professionals.
• Optional Research: The day will be facilitated by Keith Tanner as part of his ongoing research at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. You'll be invited to contribute your insights to Keith's studies on an entirely voluntary, confidential and anonymous basis. Whether you choose to contribute, or not, you will be welcome to attend the workshop.

Move beyond the "fringe" of rational explanation and engage with the liminal, non-rational and unknown. Explore ways to hold space for the non-ordinary with professional clarity, compassion, and clinical integrity.

Info: This session guides practitioners through the professional journey of navigating SONOEs from the first point of client contact through to professional supervision, integration and ongoing development. Using data from the Alister Hardy Trust and six specific SONOE types, we will explore authenticated accounts from written disclosures, simulated interactions, and real-time case studies. The day concludes with creative synthesis and focus group opportunities aimed at improving professional awareness and an identification of the potential scaffolding required for clients disclosing SONOEs and other associated extraordinary human experiences.

Info: Here we'll focus on the critical first point of contact between a practitioner and a client sharing a profound personal experience. We'll review a prospective client's initial communication disclosing a mystical experience defined by awe, wonder, and revelation. There will be opportunities for individual reflection, journaling, and optional focus group discussions to share insights and emotional responses.

Info: Transitioning from first awareness of a client's needs to more direct engagement, this session simulates a professional encounter through a live or recorded phone or video consultation. We'll focus on observing our own internal responses and nuances while listening to a potential client relate their lived experience first-hand. There will be dedicated time for independent reflection and journaling, followed by options for focus group discussions, collaborative processing and peer sharing.

Info: Entering into a more immersive experience we'll explore a professional encounter where a practitioner integrates coaching, counselling, and pastoral approaches to support a client's experiences of synchronicity and the paranormal. We will examine the conflict between mystical wonder and real-world anxiety with opportunities for reviewing, rewinding, reframing and reworking the unfolding of the scenario to explore alternative modes and methods of holding space for the client. We'll conclude with structured reflections and focus group discussions to deepen professional insights.

Info: This penultimate session focuses on internalising the day’s learning and translating personal insights into professional wisdom and competence. There will be an opportunity to consider our modes of working, methods, creativity, and the value of considering spiritual literacy, intelligence and wisdom. The session provides space for our own use of personal reflection, creativity and peer networking before reconvening for the final focus group and formal close.

Info: As we close, probably with more questions than answers, we will have time to consolidate professional insights and offer each other some final thoughts and feelings on the future of professional support for clients disclosing SONOEs. There will also be time to formalise the process for research contributions, confirm consent and anonymously share journals for the ongoing study. The day will conclude with the e-mailing of resource packs, requests for feedback and an invitation to participate in ongoing research.

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