A spiritual bypass or spiritual bypassing is a "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks". The term was introduced in the early 1980s by John Welwood, a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist. Clinicians in pastoral psychology have identified both beneficial and detrimental manifestations of behavior that could be described as spiritual bypass.
Background
American psychologist John Welwood came up with the term in 1984 after noting that some people, by resorting to spirituality to avoid difficult or painful emotions or challenges, tended to suppress aspects of their identity and needs and stall their emotional development. Charles Whitfield later used the term in recovery literature.
Clinicians do not necessarily regard spiritual bypass as unhealthy when it is utilized as a temporary approach to coping with acute stress or an intense "spiritual emergency". Furthermore, some researchers have argued that certain behaviors labelled as "spiritual bypassing" may simply be a normal and even inevitable stage of any approach to spiritual development. On the other hand, when spiritual bypass is used as a long-term strategy for ignoring or suppressing unaddressed mental health issues, negative consequences can include "the need to excessively control others and oneself, shame, anxiety, dichotomous thinking, emotional confusion, exaggerated tolerance of inappropriate behavior, codependence, compulsive kindness, obsession or addiction, spiritual narcissism, blind allegiance to charismaticteachers, and disregard for personal responsibility". In cases where it is deemed detrimental, spiritual bypass may be addressed with various forms of psychotherapy, including focusing and motivational interviewing, although there is little evidence on which to base treatment aside from anecdotes and individual case reports.
The concept of spiritual bypass has seen little systematic study. Existing research has been limited by relatively homogeneous sampling, and there is a need for more cross-cultural studies to provide a "more global perspective" and explore the concept's relevance to diverse populations.
