Religion-Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review and Description of Techniques

Marianna De Abreu Costa,Alexander Moreira-Almeida

doi:10.1007/s10943-021-01345-z

Abstract

Systematic reviews have shown the efficacy of religion-adapted cognitive behavioral therapy (R-CBT); however, many clinicians lack practical knowledge of these protocols. We describe here the techniques of religious adaptation to CBT that have proved effective. We selected randomized clinical trials comparing R-CBT with control conditions in clients with a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder and extracted the information from their adapted manuals. The most frequent religious adaptations were the integration of religious content to perform cognitive restructuring, psychoeducation and motivation; engagement in religious activities such as behavioral activation, meditation, or prayer to help cognitive restructuring, using religious values and coping strategies. A description of these techniques is presented here, as well as some practical examples.

Highlights

There is growing recognition of the need to make an effort to adapt culturally effective interventions to offer evidence-based interventions that are more humanized and focused on the individual (Kirmayer & Ban, 2013) as well as to address religiosity and spirituality in clinical practice and in psychotherapy (Moreira-Almeida et al, 2014, 2016)
Spirituality is about the personal search for existential meaning, the sacred and transcendent, while religiosity refers to the organized system of beliefs, practices, and rituals which seek to bring the individual closer to the
This study focused on the description of adapted Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques

Summary

Introduction

There is growing recognition of the need to make an effort to adapt culturally effective interventions to offer evidence-based interventions that are more humanized and focused on the individual (Kirmayer & Ban, 2013) as well as to address religiosity and spirituality in clinical practice and in psychotherapy (Moreira-Almeida et al, 2014, 2016). Consistent evidence suggests religion-adapted psychotherapy protocols can be as effective (Lim et al, 2014), or even more effective than standard protocols (Anderson et al, 2015). This effect seems to be independent of the therapist’s own religiosity. One study found the spiritually adapted protocol conducted by non-religious therapists was more effective than when conducted by religious therapists (Propst et al, 1992)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion