Three Approaches to Religious Issues in Counseling

Abstract

The Christian faith continues to be a powerful influence in the lives of a great number of people in American culture. Three approaches employed by practitioners to deal with a client's religious faith have been identified through a review of the literature of the past 10 years. The approaches taken include avoidance, eradication, and integration of the client's faith. Practitioners will either avoid dealing with the client's faith, attempt to eradicate faith, or work towards integrating faith into the counseling process. These three approaches are evaluated in view of the American Psychological Association's code of ethics. Any one of the three approaches may be ethically acceptable when practiced within the bounds of professional code of ethics.