Integrating clients' religion/spirituality in clinical practice: A comparison among social workers, psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, and nurses.

Abstract

This study was designed to describe and compare five helping professions' views and behaviors regarding the integration of clients' religion/spirituality (RS) in clinical practice. A cross-sectional design was used to survey 3,500 licensed clinical psychologists, nurses, marriage and family therapists (LMFTs), clinical social workers, and professional counselors across Texas. A total of 550 responded to this online survey, which included the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale and background questions. Attitudes concerning the integration of clients' RS did not differ by profession and were fairly positive. However, differences emerged regarding self-efficacy, perceived feasibility, and behaviors, with LMFTs reporting the highest scores for these subscales. This is the first comparison of these five professions' attitudes, behaviors, perceived feasibility, and self-efficacy regarding integrating clients' RS. These encouraging results not only indicate helping professionals' openness to integrating clients' RS, but also highlight key differences in training, self-efficacy, views of feasibility, and implementation.