Table 3.

The VALID framework for spiritually informed practice in mental health.

Principle	Core concept	In practice
V Validate Validate the spiritual framework	Authentic validation of a person’s spiritual framework is itself meaningful and supportive of recovery. Simple acknowledgement and genuine curiosity without needing to share or fully understand someone’s beliefs can be profoundly affirming. A validating response communicates that the person is the expert on their own inner life. A dismissive or pathologising response to spiritual beliefs, by contrast, may undermine the very meaning making that supports wellbeing. The starting point is openness and respect, rather than assessment.	Create space for spiritual stories Invite the person to share their spiritual beliefs and experiences. Respond with genuine curiosity rather than evaluation. Validate before assessing Aim to understand the person’s framework on its own terms before reaching for any external categories or explanations. Simple acceptance matters A straightforward affirmation that someone’s perspective makes sense even without personal agreement can be experienced as powerfully supportive.
A Attend Attend to function over content	What matters is not whether a spiritual experience can be explained or verified, but whether it expands or constrains the person’s sense of agency, meaning and wellbeing. Experiences such as synchronicities, signs, intuitions, visions and dreams may serve important meaning making functions regardless of how they are explained. Something that might raise concern can simultaneously be a powerful source of meaning, hope and guidance. Meaning making is an on-going process whose function may not be immediately apparent. Holding space for this unfolding meaning is key.	Attend to whether spiritual experiences are expanding or contracting the person’s sense of agency, hope and meaning. Ask how the experience functions in the person’s life and what it means to them, before reaching for any explanatory framework. An experience can be both spiritually meaningful and worth attending to carefully. These are not mutually exclusive.
L Lightly Hold Support openness and uncertainty	The capacity to hold spiritual experiences lightly with curiosity and without needing definitive answers may itself be a sign of healthy meaning making. Meaning making is often a fluid, evolving process rather than something that arrives at fixed conclusions. Remaining in productive uncertainty and allowing meanings to shift over time, can be more valuable than reaching for premature certainty. The ability to hold experiences with openness and flexibility may be distinguishable from the fixed, unquestionable certainty that can characterize more distressing states, making this a meaningful indicator in its own right.	Model open exploration Adopt a stance of curious enquiry rather than definitive conclusion. Invite exploration rather than explanation. Support productive uncertainty Validate doubt, questioning and evolving meanings as a healthy part of the meaning making journey rather than signs of confusion. Notice how things are held Attend to whether experiences are held with flexibility and openness, or with fixed, unquestionable conviction.
I Internal Frameworks Scaffold the person’s own meaning making	People develop their own sophisticated internal frameworks for making sense of spiritual experiences alongside mental health, drawing on both intuitive and rational ways of knowing. Rather than applying external judgements about which experiences are valid or concerning, the task may be to support the person’s own developing internal frameworks — accompanying rather than directing their sense-making. This involves supporting both intuitive, symbolic and spiritual ways of knowing alongside rational frameworks, helping the person draw upon and consider both where relevant to them.	Ask how the person themselves makes sense of their experiences. Support their own frameworks rather than offering external conclusions. Support diverse ways of meaning making Where relevant, invite reflection upon different ways of making meaning including spiritual/intuitive and rational ways as they each may have different perspectives to teach. Ask rather than tell ‘How does this sit with you?’ and ‘What does this mean to you?’ are more powerful starting points than offering interpretations.
D Discern Collaboratively Explore flexibility and coherence together	Spiritual frameworks may not be inherently beneficial — where they become rigid or contradictory, they may constrain rather than support meaning making and wellbeing. This may be best explored collaboratively as a shared enquiry with curiosity and openness. Periods of doubt and uncertainty are not necessarily signs of difficulty; they may frequently be turning points toward growth and transformation. A collaborative stance allows these periods to be navigated together with genuine curiosity rather than alarm, honoring the person’s own evolving capacity for discernment.	Explore together with curiosity Invite reflection on how the person’s spiritual framework is currently working for them — whether it feels alive and evolving, or stuck and limiting. Sit with contradiction Where doubts or contradictions emerge, resist resolving them prematurely. Uncertainty within a spiritual framework may be a sign of growth. Together, attend to whether the framework expands or limits the person’s capacity to engage with life, find meaning and sustain hope.

A practice framework derived from lived experience accounts of spirituality, meaning-making and mental health recovery.

These principles are offered as reflective orientations for anyone engaging with the intersection of spirituality and mental health — whether as a practitioner, trainer, researcher, or person with lived experience. They are derived directly from the wisdom of those who have navigated these experiences themselves.

Ideally, the summary given here:

Validate: validate the spiritual framework.

Attend: attend to function over content.

Lightly hold, support openness and uncertainty.

Internal frameworks, scaffold the person’s own meaning making.

Discern collaboratively, explore flexibility and coherence together.

The VALID framework is not intended as a prescriptive protocol but as a set of reflective orientations derived from lived experience accounts. The principles are intended to complement rather than replace existing clinical assessment and risk frameworks, and are offered as a recovery-oriented commitment to lived experience expertise and collaborative, person-centered practice.