This book examines personal and professional understandings of religion in psychotherapy and advocates for integrity, competency, and cultural pluralism in clinical practice. A major feature of this book is that it confirms the massive proliferation of religion-oriented approaches to counseling and therapy in recent years. It attributes this rise to opportunism and exaggerated individualism among therapists and to the frequent failures of professional associations, clinical preparation programs, and other influences. In response to these influences, it identifies the need for guiding principles for integrating religion into therapy, discusses the religious issues that clients bring to therapy, and advocates for major changes in clinical practice, with emphasis on integrity and competence. Building on a large volume of research and using evidence-based conclusions, it clarifies how these two major features of contemporary life can be integrated with integrity and competence. The author maintains that religion should be a feature of the practice of counseling and therapy, so long as it addresses the clinically relevant needs of clients. However, it also explores how the religion of counselors and therapists often expresses the needs of counselors and therapists, instead of addressing the needs of their clients. In the context of these questions and discussion of contentious challenges, this book provides guidelines for relating religion with clinical practice and recommends needed actions by clinical preparation programs, professional associations, individual therapists, state legislatures, licensing boards, social service agencies, and corporations. All of this stands on the conspicuous need for professional accountability in the delivery of mental health care.

Factor your clients' religious beliefs into their therapy! A recent Gallup poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed said they would prefer to receive counseling from a therapist who is religious. The Power of Spirituality in Therapy: Integrating Spiritual and Religious Beliefs in Mental Health Practice addresses the apprehensions many clinicians have when it comes to discussing God with their clients. Authors Peter A. Kahle and John M. Robbins draw from their acclaimed workshops on the integration of spirituality and psychotherapy to teach therapists how they can help clients make positive life changes that are consistent with their values and spiritual and/or religious orientations. The Power of Spirituality in Therapy combines psychotherapy, spirituality, and humor to examine the “pink elephants” of academia-Godphobia and institutional a-spiritualism. The book explores the “learned avoidance” that has historically limited therapists in their ability—and willingness—to engage clients in “God-talk” and presents clinicians with methods they can use to incorporate spirituality into psychotherapy. Topics such as truth, belief, postmodernism, open-mindedness, and all-inclusiveness are examined through empirical findings, practical steps and cognitive processes, and clinical stories. The Power of Spirituality in Therapy includes: To Be (Ethical) or Not to Be? WHAT is the Question? To Believe or Not to Believe? That is NOT the Question! The Deification of Open-Mindedness Learning From Our Clients In God Do Therapists Trust? and much more! The Power of Spirituality in Therapy is an essential resource for therapists, counselors, mental health practitioners, pastoral counselors, and social work professionals who deal with clients who require therapy that reflects the importance of God in their lives. This guide will help those brave enough to explore how their own spiritual beliefs and/or biases can create problems when working with those clients.

In this book, experts in the field discuss how spiritual and religious issues can be successfully integrated into counseling in a manner that is respectful of client beliefs and practices. Designed as an introductory text for counselors-in-training and clinicians, it describes the knowledge base and skills necessary to effectively engage clients in an exploration of their spiritual and religious lives to further the therapeutic process. Through an examination of the 2009 ASERVIC Competencies for Addressing Spiritual and Religious Issues in Counseling and the use of evidence-based tools and techniques, this book will guide you in providing services to clients presenting with these deeply sensitive and personal issues. Numerous strategies for clinical application are offered throughout the book, and new chapters on mindfulness, ritual, 12-step spirituality, prayer, and feminine spirituality enhance application to practice. *Requests for digital versions from the ACA can be found on wiley.com. *To request print copies, please visit the ACA website here: https://imis.counseling.org/store/detail.aspx?id=78161 *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to publications@counseling.org

"This book, through its well-referenced and critically thoughtful approach, has made an invaluable contribution to the counseling literature. The extensive use of case studies and other applied materials makes it a valuable . . . reference." –Dr. Thomas J. Russo, Department of Counseling and School Psychology, University of Wisconsin, River Falls Incorporating Spirituality in Counseling and Psychotherapy presents an applied, insightful, and well-researched overview of the theory, practice, and ethics of integrating spiritual and religious themes and rituals into traditional therapy models. This well-conceived and immensely readable text examines common barriers and bridges between spirituality and mental health and documents the effectiveness of using spiritual practices and concepts in treatment. Most important, it encourages readers, through group activities and individual reflection, to consider their own spiritual belief systems and biases before engaging clients in therapy with a spiritual base. Key features of this book include: A synopsis of the major Eastern and Western religions and spiritual movements Theoretical, cultural, and ethical implications of incorporating spirituality in counseling Practical methods for helping clients develop a spiritual identity Proven techniques for incorporating spiritual practices in treatment Case studies providing complex, real-life scenarios, as well as questions and activities for individual and group discussion A practical book for students and a valuable resource for counselors, psychologists, social workers, addiction specialists, and other mental health professionals, Incorporating Spirituality in Counseling and Psychotherapy offers expert guidance on how to handle issues of spirituality in furthering the therapeutic process.

The goal of this book is to help counselors move from a respectful but hesitant neutrality to a skilled, and action-oriented sensitivity toward their clients' spirituality. The primary audience is professional counselors and psychotherapists, social workers, counselor and therapist educators, and counselors-in-training in college programs. The book presents and discusses recent theory and research on spirituality and religion with regard to counseling and psychotherapy. It builds on the premise that spirituality and religion deserve counselors' sensitive regard, informed understanding, and, as ethically and therapeutically appropriate, skillful integration into effective counseling treatment. The first two chapters present information, concepts, and background knowledge that undergird counseling approaches, skills, and techniques. Chapter Three focuses on the relationship dimension of counseling and discusses principles and practices for relating the spiritual/religious dimension of the counseling relationship. Chapter Four looks at systematic approaches for evaluating the appropriateness of including spiritual and religious issues in counseling, and Chapter Five addresses a variety of treatment approaches and techniques for working with clients' spiritual and religious concerns. (Contains over 400 references and an index.) (RJM)

This edited collection addresses how therapy can engage with issues of race, culture, religion and spirituality. It is a response to the need for practitioners to further their understanding and skills base in developing ways of appropriately responding to the interconnectivity of these evolving issues.

"The purpose of this edited book is to provide mental health practitioners with a functional understanding of the empirical literature on the psychology of religion and spirituality, while at the same time outlining clinical implications, assessments, and strategies for counseling and psychotherapy. This text is different from others on this topic because it will help to bridge the gap between the psychology of religion and spirituality research and clinical practice. Each chapter covers clinically relevant topics, such as religious and spiritual development, religious and spiritual coping, and mystical and spiritual experiences as well as discuss clinical implications, clinical assessment, and treatment strategies. Diverse religious and spiritual (e.g., Jewish, Islamic, Christian, and Buddhist, etc.) clinical examples are also be integrated throughout the chapters to further connect the psychology of religion and spirituality research with related clinical implications."--Provided by publisher

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Clinical Practice" that was published in Religions

More activities to tap into the strength of your clients’ spiritual beliefs to achieve therapeutic goals. The Therapist’s Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II is the second volume of a comprehensive two-volume resource that provides practical interventions from respected experts from a wide range of backgrounds and theoretical perspectives. This volume includes several practical strategies and techniques to easily incorporate spirituality into psychotherapy. You’ll find in-session activities, homework assignments, and client and therapist handouts that utilize a variety of therapeutic models and techniques and address a broad range of topics and problems. The chapters of The Therapist’s Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II are grouped into four sections: Models of Therapy Used in Integrating Spirituality; Integrating Spirituality with Age-Specific Populations: Children, Adolescents, and the Elderly; Integrating Spirituality with Specific Multicultural Populations; and Involving Spirituality when Dealing with Illness, Loss, and Trauma. As in Volume One, each clinician-friendly chapter also includes sections on resources where the counselor can learn more about the topic or technique used in the chapter—as well as suggested books, articles, chapters, videos, and Web sites to recommend to clients. Every chapter follows the same easy-to-follow format: objectives, rationale for use, instructions, brief vignette, suggestions for follow-up, contraindications, references, professional readings and resources, and bibliotherapy sources for the client. The Therapist’s Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II adds more useful activities and homework counselors can use in their practice, such as: using religion or spirituality in solution-oriented brief therapy “Cast of Character” counseling using early memories to explore adolescent and adult spirituality cognitive behavioral treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder age-specific clients such as children or the elderly multicultural populations and spirituality dealing with illness, loss, and trauma recovering from fetal loss creative art techniques with caregivers in group counseling and much more! The Therapist’s Notebook for Integrating Spirituality in Counseling II provides even more creative and helpful homework and activities that are perfect for pastoral counselors, clergy, social workers, marriage and family therapists, counselors, psychologists, Christian counselors, educators who teach professional issues, ethics, counseling, and multicultural issues, and students.

This is a very helpful book for mental health professionals providing therapy, counselling and health and social care services, as it explores and integrates multicultural and spiritual perspectives in a practical and informative manner. It highlights the fact that spiritual dimension has an enormous relevance to multicultural counselling' - Transcultural Psychiatry This book challenges practitioners with the proposal that integrating spiritual values in multicultural counselling and exploring spirituality from multicultural perspectives are synergistic and mutually reciprocal processes. Chapter topics include: developmental models of the spiritual journey; integrating spiritual and mul