Spiritual Counseling: Annotated Bibliography

Hull, Suarez, and Hartman (2016) reports, the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Issues in Counseling (ASERVIC, 2009) are moral standards that aid the counselor in developing ethical awareness when discussing spirituality in a creative context. The study also brought to light spiritual/religious rooted in academic learning and how the competencies are “taught, used, and evaluated” (as cited in Hull et al., 2016, p. 112). In the inquiry as written in the American Counseling Association [ACA, 2014] Code of Ethics “counselor respect the diversity of clients and not isolate the client’s belief system on spirituality/religion” (Hull et al., 2016, p.). Further summarizes the 14 competencies created by ASERVIC across six subject areas to balance the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) in guiding counselors to better talk about religious/spiritual issues in counseling (Hull et al., 2016, p111). Such as “Cultural and Worldview, Counselor Self-Awareness, Human and Spiritual Evolution, Communication, Assessment, and Diagnosis and Treatment” (as cited in Hull et al., 2016,

Hawkins and Clinton (2015), stated that using the knowledge of counseling and incorporating it in the theology and spirituality, delivers a deeper counseling session with clients seeking a closer connection to God and a sense of hope (p. 8). Psychological issues apart from spiritual issues are presented in the text. Hawkins and Clinton (2015) argue the “overcoming the faith gap” as an issue, and state that the most challenging part for clients seeking services is doubting the fact that, incorporating theology/spirituality counseling may not fulfill their needs (p.

Religion plays an important role in the lives of many people, and in such cases, religious principles and beliefs influence all aspects of their lives. With the increasing interest in spirituality in the community, the intersection of psychological services, religion and spirituality is likely to be a growth area in psychology (Plante, 2007). However, working with clients around religion and spirituality issues does present potential ethical challenges.

The benefits of religious counselling is it’s proven efficacy Nathaniel (2005) that illustrates clients as experiencing a greater feeling of closeness within the

Christian counseling is all about integrating psychology, theology and spirituality into counselor and clients lives. Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling gives insight into how these three perspectives can be used to help individuals identify certain aspects of their lives that might be enhanced when the counselor includes spirituality into their counseling sessions. We also see how important it is for the counselor to be in touch with their own spirituality so that

McMinn unveils the realism of what essentially happens in the counseling office. He dives into the fitting together “Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling”. McMinn explains how “those who enter therapy in the midst of their pain experience a restorative counseling relationship that brings acceptance hope, and meaning into their broken lives” (McMinn, 2011, p. 20). There are various questions surrounding Christian counseling that McMinn faces head on in this book when it comes to the challenges counselors face as it relates to integrating religion and spirituality in their sessions. Life on the frontier as McMinn puts it, is where counselors face six basic challenges. Challenges such as moving from two areas of competence to three, blurred personal-professional distinctions, expanded definitions of training, confronting dominant views of mental health, establishing a scientific base or even defining relevant ethical standards (McMinn, 2011). Personal journey’s that McMinn has taken throughout his career provide him with the knowledge, skills and abilities to depict how we should face these challenges. McMinn talks about how many counselors have a need to interpret studies, have good psychodynamics and figure out which cognitive therapy is right for their counseling. As he states, “Christian counseling is more complex than other forms of counseling because our goal are multifaceted (McMinn, 2011, p.

Christian counselors have a responsibility to their clients to integrate psychology and theology in their therapeutic approaches. Incorporating multiple components however is not as straight forward as one might think. In Psychology Theology, and Spirituality (McMinn, 2011) McMinn discusses the benefits of an integrated counseling approach that strives to promote “both spiritual and emotional growth” (McMinn, 2011, p. 5) by including a third element; spirituality, or more specifically, spiritual formation. Finding the proper blend of elements can be challenging even for a seasoned therapist.

Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling by Mark R. McMinn (McMinn, 1996) covers a Christian counselor's life in and out of counseling sessions. McMinn's book is dedicated to recognizing and developing the relationship between counseling and Christian faith rather than a dry Theology. This resource work divides the discussion into 8 chapters, each addressing a vital aspect of Christian psychological counseling and each having a section outlining challenges, methods and anticipated outcomes. The first chapter is co-written with James C. Wilhoit and stresses the importance of the counseling/faith relationship while presenting various challenges confronting the counselor and possible approaches to facing those challenges. The second chapter enumerates the Christian faith's major

McMinn tells how psychology, theology, and spirituality are used and how they should be used in Christian counseling. A Christian counselor has to look at not necessarily psychology and theology in a counseling session but how religion and spiritually is brought into the session. McMinn (2011) states, “Religious interventions require us to understand spiritual formation, place priority on personal spiritual training as well as professional development, challenge prevailing models of mental health, work toward a stronger scientific base, and sensitively recognize ethical issues” (p. 26). Counselors need to work on their own spiritual foundation so they can are able to help clients. This consists of prayer, scripture, redemption, sin, forgiveness, and confession (McMinn, 2011).

For health care providers to deliver the best holistic care that patients deserve, a thorough spiritual assessment must be included during their care. With more research showing a relationship between supporting a patient’s spirituality with their health and ability to cope with illness, it is now a requirement of organizations to include a spiritual assessment to maintain accreditation with The Joint Commission. The minimum required of a spiritual assessment by The Joint Commission is to determine the patient’s religion and

Religion can be described as a way to convey the beliefs and inner spirituality system (Gill, Minton, & Myers, 2010). Spirituality on the other hand was defined as “an awareness of a being or a force that transcends material aspects of life and gives a deep sense of wholeness or connectedness to the universe” (Myers & Sweeney, 2005). Even with there being a difference between the two, there may be an issue with making religion/spirituality a mandatory part of treatment and that is, not everyone may want to incorporate any sort of religion/spirituality into their treatment. To address this issue, a research study by Diallo (2013) was conducted on whether or not a client would be willing to include religion or spirituality in counseling. If the clients were willing, their preferences of the counselors’ knowledge of their religion/spirituality and their background were

The benefits that religion and spirituality provide in recovery and psychotherapeutic support are exponential (Bradshaw et. al). It is one of the reasons the correlation between religious mindset and mental health continues to draw scholarly attention. Another confounding variable is that there is little cultural separation between spiritual guidance and psychotherapy. Most Catholic Priest’s come equipped with undergraduate and seminary work, the minimum requirement to perform basic counseling in most states. Gettis, a psychiatrist and scholar, postulates that both priest and psychotherapists are mutual “socially-sanctioned healers” drawn together by the belief that they possess healing power (Gettis 188).

The main topic studied in this article is that most people identify themselves as spiritual and or religious. With that being said, patients undergoing psychotherapy are not treated nor is it included in their treatment plan. Psychotherapists are not even trained in this aspect nor do they include it in their assessment or treatment planning.

This article talks about how Spirituality and Religion can be integrated into counseling. I believe that people training to be a counselor should have religion. The scripture 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All scriptures is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” In order to counsel someone that person have to have God in his heart. To be an educational counselor as well that person should have God in their heart. I also believe in the old saying that you should be quick to listen and slow to speak when conversing with someone. Counselors have a lot of people who would like

Students critically examine the implications of a Christian worldview for counseling and marriage and family practice. Ethical issues relevant to the use of spiritual and religious interventions with individuals, couples, & families are considered, along with current research related to spirituality and counseling.