Tag
spirituality
Articles tagged "spirituality".
11 articles
Spiritual Competencies for Psychotherapists: Research Findings and Training Opportunities
This article shares insights from “Improving Psychotherapists’ Spiritual and Religious Competencies: Evaluation of a Live Videoconferencing Training Program,”recently published in Psychotherapy (Richards et al., 2025). The study evaluated the effectiveness of a live videoconferencing training program in spiritually integrated psychotherapy (SIP) offered by ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education (ACPE). Here, we summarize […]
Russell Siler Jones, ThD, LCMHCS + 1 more
July 1, 2025
Making Space for Spirituality While Treating Substance Use Disorders
As a graduate student new to addiction treatment, I have felt a growing curiosity about the degree to which spirituality is brought into psychotherapy. I attend a private religious university, thus my first therapy patients routinely spoke of God, recited scripture, or wrestled with interpretations of morality. This simultaneously became a sublime and perilous feature […]
Aileen Rands, MS
January 4, 2025
Addressing Religion and Spirituality in Psychotherapy: Why it Should be in Graduate Training Programs
There has been a recent question in American Psychological Association’s (APA) Monitor on Psychology asking, “Can religion and spirituality have a place in therapy?” (Abrams, 2023). APA’s 2023 President Thema Bryant, PhD, and other mental health professionals believe religion and spirituality have a place in psychotherapy and also agree that clinicians should receive training in […]
Juliane Nguyen, M.Psy.
June 25, 2024
Coming Back Home: A Journey to Reconnection with Self
It was one of those mornings after a long wedding weekend. I was happy and excited to meet my therapist and tell her about the fun and exciting events that took place. At that point of my life, waking up happy was a rare experience for me. This was just a month into the start […]
Simran Deep Singh, M.S.
January 24, 2024
Religion, Spirituality, and Suicide
When evaluating suicidal patients, it is often indicated to ask them about their religious beliefs about suicide because many patients believe that their spiritual or religious beliefs1 are closely linked to their mental health (Yamada et al., 2020). For example, some patients in significant emotional distress say they would not kill themselves because their religion […]
Samuel Knapp, Ed.D., ABPP
October 27, 2023
Addressing Religion and Spirituality in Psychotherapy: Ethical and Clinical Perspectives
Psychotherapists strive to provide their clients with the best treatment possible, something highly dependent on our ability to achieve high standards of competence. An important aspect of one’s clinical competence that has received increasing attention in recent years is multicultural competence. It is recognized that a psychotherapist cannot be clinically competent without being multicultural competent […]
Jeffrey E. Barnett, Psy.D., ABPP
April 9, 2023
Remembering Ram Dass
What a wonderful parting gift Ram Dass (also known as Richard Alpert, PhD) has given us with his memoir, Being Ram Dass (Dass & Das, 2021). For those “of a certain age” who know of his life and work, this book takes you knee-deep into the juicy details of the stages of his personal and […]
Steven J. Hendlin, Ph.D.
March 1, 2021
Exploring the Downstream Effects of Silence Around Religion and Spirituality in Counseling Training Programs
My name is Erin, and I am working towards my doctorate degree in counseling psychology. I was drawn to this field because of my interest in the complex identities that shape the human experience. Each identity we hold creates a unique perspective through which we view the world. In some aspects, our identities are easily […]
Erin M. Buttars, B.A. + 1 more
August 3, 2020
Incorporating the Role Religion Plays for a Client into Treatment
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Christians with Depression by Michelle Pearce, PhD is a phenomenal guide to treating religious clients suffering from a depressive episode. It not only provides an evidence based treatment model, but exemplifies the importance of compassion and respect for the client and their values and beliefs that they bring to therapy. Although […]
Tyler Hernandez, M.S.
October 15, 2017
Why Religion Needs a Seat at Psychotherapy’s Table
Adapted excerpt from “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Christians with Depression: A Practical, Tool-Based Primer” book in preparation. Buy your copy here: https://www.templetonpress.org/book/cognitive-behavioral-therapy Does Religion Belong in Psychotherapy? This question is posed by a lot of mental health practitioners. Here’s the short answer: If religion is important to our clients, religion will be part of psychotherapy whether […]
Michelle J. Pearce, Ph.D.
July 2, 2015
Integrating Spirituality and Religion into Psychotherapy Practice
Download a free accompanying Power Point presentation from Dr. Barnett here: Integrating_Religion_and_Spirituality.ppt It may be easy for psychotherapists to overlook or avoid addressing our clients’ spirituality and religion in psychotherapy. Such issues may not have been addressed in our training and thus may not be seen as relevant to our clinical work with clients. After all, we […]
Jeffrey E. Barnett, Psy.D., ABPP
November 16, 2014