Critical Spirituality

Fiona Gardner is Head of Social Work and Social Policy, Fiona Gardner, La Trobe University, Australia

• Contents: Introduction; Part I Understanding Spirituality: Spirituality: what is it?; Making connections between religion, spirituality and practice; Connecting current theory for professional practice to exploring spirituality; Using critical reflection to explore critical spirituality. Part II Spirituality and Practice: Critical spirituality: a model; Starting with your own spirituality; Processes for critically spiritual practice; Applying critical spirituality in different work settings. Part III Practitioners' Perspectives: Les McLennan; Kate; David Mitchell; Melissa Brickell; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

'Fiona Gardner has given us her customary down to earth, but thoughtful work. This is a timely book, on a topic which is of growing interest and importance. It is particularly welcome in supporting a trend which will become integral to professional practice in the future. I highly commend Critical Spirituality.' Jan Fook, South West London Academic Network, UK 'Fiona Gardner subverts the dominant paradigm which for too long has depicted spirituality as "flaky" and of marginal relevance to human service practitioners. In Critical Spirituality, she articulates a compelling rationale as to why professional integrity demands engaging with one’s own spiritual concerns as well as recognising and responding to those the various stakeholders in their communities of practice.' Beth R. Crisp, Deakin University, Australia 'Fiona Gardner has drawn on her professional and personal experience in social work, and as a Quaker, to explore the growing interest in the integration of spiritual aspects into professional practice among those who work in the caring professions. The result is a grounded, thorough and helpful contribution to the field... The book is clearly and coherently laid out, and is divided into three parts... these personal accounts really bring the application of critical spirituality very much alive. The accounts include descriptions of the practitioners’ own spirituality and often how integral the search for meaning is in their work settings with vulnerable clients... Critical spirituality is undoubtedly a subject that needs further debate both among professionals and within agencies and institutions, and this is certainly a book that can contribute to this.' Modern Believing 'The book makes a strong case for considering spirituality as a central issue for social workers and all the people they serve rather than an afterthought. When we consider how we ourselves would like to be approached if requiring social care, a service which was based upon an asses