Client Spirituality Research Articles

Spirituality in Australian Health Professional Practice: A Scoping Review and Qualitative Synthesis of Findings.

This study explores how spirituality is integrated into practice across the different Australian health professions. Utilising the Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) protocol, six databases were searched, and sixty-seven articles were finally included. To present the findings, a qualitative synthesis was used. 'Meaning' and 'purpose in life' were found to be key to many spirituality definitions. The most frequently reported approach for Australian health professionals (HPs) in asking about client spirituality was using one or two questions within a comprehensive assessment. Major facilitators included a holistic care approach and prior training, whereas a key barrier was a lack of time.

Integrated Model of Drugs Addictive Client Spirituality Development

This research is motivated by the rise of drug trafficking from the elite to the grassroots, so that many people are trapped and fall into drug addicts. They need recovery and support to rise to normal human beings. So, how is the design of coaching that can touch the physical and mental recovery and spiritual recovery of addicts in recovery. To answer this question, researchers conducted a comparative study at the National Narcotics Rehabilitation Center, Lido with the Suryalaya Islamic Boarding School, Tasikmalaya, West Java. This study uses a qualitative phenomenological approach, namely the Interactive Analysis and Comparative Analysis models. Extracting the data of this research seeks to reveal and see the development of addicts through the two sides of the Institute by way of interviews, observation and documentation, which are then analyzed, as well as reducing the data to be interpreted and described. The results of the research and writing of this dissertation are expected to give birth to a design model in handling drug addict client development that can touch physical, psychological, mental and spiritual recovery. A design model that integrates medical treatment of medicine and religious therapy which are integrated into a coaching system.

Understanding spiritual assessment and intervention in China: A roadmap for addressing client spirituality in an ethical and professional manner

ABSTRACT Spirituality is an important factor in the lives of many people in China. Yet, little information exits on how to address Chinese clients’ spiritual beliefs appropriately. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by articulating a roadmap for working with client spirituality in an ethical and professional manner. Rationales for administering a spiritual assessment are provided along with a brief overview of the process and options for conducting such assessments. The paper concludes by reviewing two prominent spiritual interventions that may resonate with many Chinese clients, both in China and other parts of the world.

“Spirituality is everybody’s business”: an exploration of the impact of spiritual care training upon the perceptions and practice of rehabilitation professionals

Purpose This study explored the impact of a brief spiritual care training program upon the perceptions and self-reported practice of rehabilitation professionals working in traumatic injury. Methodology and methods A qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were held with staff from a rehabilitation hospital in Sydney, Australia, between six and eight weeks after participation in spiritual care training. A thematic analysis was conducted. Results Of the 41 rehabilitation professionals who attended the training (1 h online, 1.5 h face to face), 16 agreed to be interviewed. The majority worked in spinal cord injury and were female. Half reported holding a Christian affiliation. One overarching theme and six sub-themes were identified from the qualitative data. The overarching theme was “spirituality is everybody’s business”. The six sub-themes were: (i) increased awareness of the nature of spirituality, (ii) realisation of the importance of spirituality to clients, (iii) a desire to keep spirituality on the radar, (iv) identifying barriers to providing spiritual care (v) incorporating spirituality into practice, and, (vi) recognising spirituality as personally meaningful. Conclusions A brief spiritual care training program can impact positively upon perceptions and practice of rehabilitation professionals. Ongoing training is needed to ensure that staff retain what was learnt. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Brief spiritual care training can impact positively upon rehabilitation professionals’ perceptions of spirituality and lead to practice change in the delivery of spiritual care across many clinical disciplines. The stories of patients and family members are powerful staff education tools in spiritual care training. Client spirituality is an under recognised resource that staff can draw upon in supporting and enhancing the rehabilitation process.

Spiritually Informed Interventions and Psychotic Disorders: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Purpose: Including spirituality in the treatment of psychosis is controversial. To determine the effect of incorporating spirituality into treatment, we conducted a systematic review of spiritually informed interventions with persons with psychotic disorders (PPD). Methods: A search of 15 electronic databases was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials that used spiritually informed interventions with PPD. Results: Of 4,317 papers examined, seven studies met eligibility criteria. A narrative review revealed that the use of spiritually informed interventions was significantly associated with positive outcomes across all seven studies. Supplementary quantitative analysis indicated that the use of spiritually informed interventions was associated with significantly and clinically meaningful lower levels of psychosis symptoms (Hedges’s g = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [0.46, 1.66], p = .001). Discussion: The results suggest that social workers and other mental health providers should consider incorporating client spirituality into treatment protocols when working with PPD.

Jones, R. S. (2019). Spirit in session: Working with your client's spirituality (and your own) in psychotherapy. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press, 288 pp. $19.95.

Journal of Marital and Family TherapyVolume 46, Issue 3 p. 555-555 Review Jones, R. S. (2019). Spirit in session: Working with your client's spirituality (and your own) in psychotherapy. West Conshoho cken, PA: Templeton Press, 288 pp. $19.95. Amanda LeMay MA, LPCC, LPC, Amanda LeMay MA, LPCC, LPC Outpatient Therapist, Family InnovationsSearch for more papers by this author Amanda LeMay MA, LPCC, LPC, Amanda LeMay MA, LPCC, LPC Outpatient Therapist, Family InnovationsSearch for more papers by this author First published: 13 July 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12421Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume46, Issue3July 2020Pages 555-555 RelatedInformation

“Out on the edge of my comfort”: Trainee counsellor/psychotherapists' experiences of spirituality in therapy—A qualitative exploration

AbstractThe integration of spirituality into counselling and psychotherapy poses complex challenges. Personal spirituality, professional competency and ethical considerations may impact on trainees' experiences of integrating spirituality into therapy. This study adopted an inductive, qualitative approach to explore trainee counsellor/psychotherapists' experiences and perceptions of integrating spirituality into therapy. Six trainee counsellors and psychotherapists were recruited using purposive sampling from a professional counsellor and psychotherapist training institution in the UK. In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were conducted, audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed two overarching themes: spirituality provides support but needs a warning; and spirituality is relevant but undervalued. These themes encompass a wide range of trainee concerns associated with integrating spirituality into therapy. Participants reported that they felt unprepared to work therapeutically with clients' spiritual beliefs. However, the value of spirituality in providing support to both the trainee and their clients was highlighted by several participants. Some participants described integrating clients' spirituality as having a positive impact on the therapeutic relationship, but often felt threatening to the trainee. This research has implications that are important for counselling and psychotherapy training and developing enhanced consideration of client spirituality and the interpersonal environment in which therapy is delivered.

Assessment of clinical social worker's familiarity with and views about the integration of client's religion and spirituality in social work

ABSTRACTClient's religion/spirituality (R/S) is considered an important element when working with clients in social work practice. This study aims to explore the variables associated with clinical social worker’s awareness of and notions about integrating client’s R/S into clinical practice in Kuwait. The sample (N = 235) used in the study consisted of clinical social workers in Kuwait. In the current study, the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale (RSIPAS) is used. The findings revealed significant relationships between familiarity and clinical social worker’s awareness of integrating client’s R/S into clinical practice and two of its subscales (Feasibility, Frequency of engaging). In addition, the findings showed a significant relationship between participant's monthly income and the Feasibility to integrate subscale. In addition, the findings of this study showed that personal religiosity is a predictive factor for social worker’s awareness about integrating client’s R/S into clinical practice.

Intellectual Humility, Spirituality, and Counselling

Although therapists often work with clients with whom they share a great many beliefs, there remain many cases where the therapist and client have very little in common. Spirituality is, especially in the latter kind of case, one specific area in which clashes and similarities may be important. However, recent evidence suggests spirituality is to a surprising extent ignored in therapy when exploring it would be therapeutically relevant and, even more, that counsellors often struggle when training to more effectively engage with client spirituality. These results are problematic, especially when taken together. In this article, I attempt to address this vexing issue in a way that brings together work on counselling and spirituality with recent discussions of intellectual virtue in contemporary epistemology. In particular, I show why it is important for the therapist to cultivate and maintain the virtue of intellectual humility with respect to spirituality in a counselling context. To this end, I explore, with reference to a particularly promising model of intellectual humility, how the therapist can be attentive to—and own—their limitations in a productive way when dealing with a wide range of spiritual backgrounds.

To Make Room or Not to Make Room: Clients' Narratives About Exclusion and Inclusion of Spirituality in Family Therapy Practice.

This empirical article presents four narratives from an ongoing qualitative PhD project about spirituality and family therapeutic practice. Using case studies and narrative vignettes, the article presents client perspectives on being able to discuss their spirituality in therapy, and the repercussions when therapists exclude it. The article refers to current research and provides some reflections on how we can understand spirituality in the context of family therapeutic practice; therapists for holistic, cultural, and ethical reasons should acknowledge the client's spirituality. Therapists need to reflect on their own spirituality and how it may influence their relationships with clients.

Graduate Students’ Perceived Preparation for Working with Client Spirituality and Religious Values

This article highlights the results of survey research regarding graduate counseling students’ perceptions of their preparation in dealing with client issues of spirituality and diverse religious values. Results revealed that students coming from programs that infused these concepts in the curriculum and provided opportunities for experiential education within this context felt more prepared than those who came from programs that did not. Implications for counselor educators are given.

Religion and spirituality in group counseling: Beliefs and preferences of university counseling center clients.

The main purpose of the present study was to explore client beliefs and preferences regarding the discussion of religious and spiritual issues in group counseling. We collected and described both quantitative and qualitative data. One major finding of this study was that on average the majority (85%) of clients at a university counseling center (N 68) reported that religious concerns are an appropriate topic for discussion in group counseling. However, only a minority of clients reported that they would like to discuss religious (24%) and spiritual (47%) concerns in group. Open-ended responses from participants provided reasons why they would or would not like to discuss religion and spirituality in their specific groups and provided insight into the discrepancy between their ratings of appropriateness and interest. In regression analyses, client spirituality and group engagement significantly predicted clients’ preferences to discuss both religious and spiritual issues. Majority religious affiliation also predicted preferences to discuss religious issues.

Client Perspectives About Religion and Spirituality in Group Counseling

The main purpose of this study was to examine client-rated appropriateness and preferences regarding the discussion of religious and spiritual concerns in group counseling. Participants were 164 group clients at nine university counseling centers nationwide. Clients volunteered to complete an online questionnaire about their experiences and opinions regarding religion and spirituality in group counseling. The majority of clients indicated that religious concerns are an appropriate topic for group counseling and reported a preference to discuss religious and spiritual concerns with their groups. Regression analyses examined predictors of client-rated (a) appropriateness of discussing religious concerns in group, (b) appropriateness of group leaders using religious or spiritual interventions, and (c) preferences for discussing religious and spiritual issues in group. The most consistent predictors of these ratings were client spirituality, client religious commitment, degree of spiritual struggles, and the frequency with which religion had already been discussed in the clients’ specific groups.

Implicit Spiritual Assessment: An Alternative Approach for Assessing Client Spirituality

To provide optimal services, a spiritual assessment is often administered to understand the intersection between clients' spirituality and service provision. Traditional assessment approaches, however, may be ineffective with clients who are uncomfortable with spiritual language or who are otherwise hesitant to discuss spirituality overtly. This article orients readers to an implicit spiritual assessment, an alternative approach that may be more valid with such clients. The process of administering an implicit assessment is discussed, sample questions are provided to help operationalize this approach, and suggestions are offered to integrate an implicit assessment with more traditional assessment approaches. By using terminology that is implicitly spiritual in nature, an implicit assessment enables practitioners to identify and operationalize dimensions of clients' experience that may be critical to effective service provision but would otherwise be overlooked.

Spirituality and Religion in Psychotherapy: Views of Brazilian Psychotherapists

Twenty-seven Brazilian psychotherapists were interviewed about how religion and spirituality interface with psychotherapy. Transcripts of unstructured interviews were subjected to open analytical coding and categorization according to grounded theory. Two categories emerged. The first category, the more complex one, saw religion as a therapeutic challenge in that therapists must respect client religion, tackle clients' religious issues, and understand how therapists' own religion influences their behavior. The second category depicted religion as providing cultural resources, including healthy activities, teachings and social support, and spirituality as providing a broader sense of meaning. Therapists used clients' religion and spirituality as therapeutic aids. Therapists' own spirituality also served as an asset in improving their interventions and coping with the emotional strains of doing therapy. Applied to practice, the findings can help clinicians deal successfully with religious cultural competence issues and mobilize spirituality and religion according to their own and the client's needs and resources.

Naming Spirituality in Counsellor Education.

It is presently unclear to what extent tertiary institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand assist their student counsellors to recognise, engage with, and utilise their clients' spirituality. This article attempts to re-establish a discussion that began 16 years ago in a significant New Zealand-based article which made a number of modest proposals about the education of counsellors in relation to their own and their clients' spirituality. Since then, the accreditation of counsellors and courses, particularly in North America, has prompted a re-examination of the benefits and difficulties of integrating spirituality into counsellor education and counselling practice. This article invites counsellor educators and practitioners to reflect upon how working with a client's spirituality is currently incorporated into counsellor education programmes and practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. Professional concerns include counsellor competence to work with spiritual and religious issues, and the engagement of spiritual issues in bicultural and multicultural counselling. Considerations for counsellor education include programme content, training requirements, and research, and questions are posed for future discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Alcohol Treatment and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Enhancing Effectiveness by Incorporating Spirituality and Religion

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective modality for the treatment of alcoholism. Given widespread interest in incorporating spirituality into professional treatment, this article orients practitioners to spiritually modified CBT, an approach that may enhance outcomes with some spiritually motivated clients. More specifically, by integrating clients' spiritual beliefs and practices into treatment, this modality may speed recovery, enhance treatment compliance, prevent relapse, and reduce treatment disparities by providing more culturally congruent services. The process of constructing spiritually modified CBT self-statements is described and illustrated, and suggestions are provided for working with client spirituality in an ethical manner. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of this approach in light of the growing spiritual diversity that characterizes contemporary society.

Spirituality and religion in group counseling: A literature review with practice guidelines.

There has been increased discussion of the need to attend to clients’ spirituality and religion as a part ofthe counseling process, but much of the literature to date has focused on individual counseling. How dothe research and resulting practice implications apply to group counseling? This article provides arationale for attending to spirituality and religion in counseling, explores the opportunities and barriersin attending to spirituality and religion in group counseling, and reviews the literature on the growingnumber of group interventions with a spiritual or religious focus. The article ends with specific guidelinesfor when and how to incorporate spirituality and religion into group counseling.Keywords: spirituality, religion, group counseling, group therapy

Partners in the Spiritual Dance: Learning Clients’ Steps While Minding All Our Toes

We present four case illustrations highlighting the complex interplay of therapists' and clients' spirituality in therapy. Complexity, in these cases, results from (a) degrees of similarity and difference, both real and perceived, between clients' and therapists' spiritual beliefs and practices; (b) degrees of spiritual disclosure; (c) characteristics of the therapeutic relationship; and (d) geographic and cultural influences. Practicing therapists and therapist training programs can benefit from addressing how therapist and client spirituality intersect and influence therapy, how both similarity and difference present obstacles and opportunities, and how ambiguity and assumptions can contribute to misunderstandings. We believe that both the therapist's and the client's spiritualities are key influences in therapy that can contribute to the frustration, and the growth, of clients and therapists alike.

Law and grace in Saint Augustine: a fresh perspective on mindfulness and spirituality in behaviour therapy

The secular, acceptance-based philosophy of third wave behaviour therapy has easily absorbed the notion of mindfulness that originated in Eastern spirituality, entailing a secularised approach to transcendence. The present article seeks to connect mindfulness with existing efforts to integrate the Western client's spirituality into psychotherapy. For that purpose, we show how Christian grace theology and mindfulness theory overlap in the way they construe transcendence and self. Both approaches enhance openness to experience and deemphasise verbal control as a tool for personal progress. It is argued that awareness of this overlap can make it easier for the therapist to understand and appreciate the client's religious perspective. It can also help turn a client's spirituality into a relevant personal strength for therapy. Finally, explaining the overlap can enhance the credibility of mindfulness interventions with traditional Christian clients and make these interventions relevant to their spiritual concerns.