Cultural practices and spiritual development for women in a native American alcohol and drug treatment program

The purpose of this study is to develop an instrument that can be used to identify clients' readiness for spiritual development and its relationship with their participation in American Indian/Alaskan Native practices. Female clients and staff from Guiding Star, the female residential substance abuse program at Native American Connections in Phoenix, Arizona, participated in the study. Two focus groups (8 Native and 5 non-Native clients) were conducted to determine the clients' attitudes toward cultural practices. A Native cultural practitioner was interviewed regarding the clients' spiritual needs and development. Finally, a survey on attitudes toward issues related to spirituality was conducted with 51 female clients. Readiness for spiritual development was found to be positively related to a positive outlook on life, being religious, or participating in American Indian/Alaska Native cultural activities.