While Freudian ideology does not advocate religious ritual, Freudian psychoanalysis and Jungian analytical psychology share several of the aims and values of the world's religions, for example developing the capacities to work, to love, and to play. It is unfortunate that many psychiatrist neither deal with the spiritual concerns of their patients nor do they collaborate with the patient's spiritual director. In many cases this has to due with some degree with non-familiarity. Other reasons have to due with disagreement about the value of spirituality. This latter difficulty might be in some cases due to inner conflicts the therapist have concerning their own spirituality.
Addictive disease presents a difficult problem to psychiatry and thus far there is no known cure.
In part this may be due to the unusual pathology and etiology of addictive disease. Interactions in twelve step programs are with the group and a sponsor. The impact of these persons on the addict may be somewhat stronger than that of the psychotherapists or clergy. Causative theories of addiction originally were based on psychodynamic models. More recently, these models have been combined with invoked behavioral, genetic, and neurochemical explanations.