Ethical implications1

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510

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Psychology

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Feb 20, 2024

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Ethical Implications of Implementing Religion or Spirituality into Therapy Grand Canyon University PSY-510: Contemporary and Ethical Issues in Psychology Katie Wick February 7, 2024 1

Ethical Implications of Implementing Religion or Spirituality into Therapy For many clients who attend psychotherapy, incorporating their religion and spirituality into their therapy is important to them and their progress. On the other hand, some clients do not want religion or spirituality incorporated into their treatment. The implementation of religion or spirituality into therapy raises some ethical considerations that need to be considered to not harm the client. The four areas that we will be exploring are competence, multiple relationships, imposing religious values in therapy, and informed consent. Competence The APA ethical principles and code of conduct 2.01 states that psychologists are to provide services within the boundaries of their competence based on education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study, or professional experience (American Psychological Association, 2017) . Clients who want to have their religion incorporated into their therapy will need to find a therapist who has the appropriate training and is competent in the spiritual aspect of therapy. For clients seeking to include religion and spirituality, finding a therapist who is knowledgeable of the role and potential impact of religion and spirituality on health, mental health, and emotional well-being (Barnett & Johnson, 2011) , is going to be pivotal in accomplishing their goal in treatment. Some ways that a competent therapist can incorporate religion or spirituality into therapy is by praying, meditation, and reading scripture as part of the process. Therapists who do not have the proper education or training can inadvertently push their religious beliefs onto their clients. Clients who do not want spirituality in their treatment may feel coerced into believing the beliefs of the therapist and they may shy away from treatment in the future. The Christian worldview in regards to competence and making ethical decisions focuses on cultural humility and being genuinely curious and comfortable with 2

discussing a client's faith and having the willingness to say, “I don’t understand, but I’m willing to learn alongside of you (Abrams, 2023) ” Multiple Relationships Another ethical challenge concerning religion or spirituality is multiple relationships. Multiple relationships occur when a clinician is in a professional relationship, such as a therapist and another personal or professional relationship in a different context or a relationship with someone close to the close (Currier, Fox, Vieten, Pearce, & Oxhandler, 2023) . Examples of multiple relationships would be a therapist who is also the client's religious leader or a therapist who is also the client's teacher. There are some cases where it may be hard not to have a multiple relationship like living in a very small town where there is a lack of services. In these cases, the therapist would need to find another therapist for the client to see. If one is not available then boundaries will have to be set before treatment that would sever the other relationship. In cases of the therapist also being a religious leader the client may look more to the clergy member as a spiritual leader than a therapist. These skewed views can limit the responsiveness to the treatment the client accomplishes. Defining the therapeutic boundary will be vital for the client to receive appropriate care. The Christian worldview guides ethical decisions with multiple relationships by allowing clear and effective boundaries to be established that are essential for a clients well being. Imposing Religious Values in Therapy The role of bias with religious issues explicitly intersects with Principle E of the Code of Ethics. Psychologists should be intentional and diligent in preventing bias from affecting religious or spiritual issues in treatment (Hathaway, 2011) . In therapy, religion or spirituality has a place for most individuals, for some, it has no place. As a therapist we are not to impose or 3

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