Integrating Spirituality and Religion Into Counseling

A Guide to Competent Practice

Craig S. Cashwell, J. Scott Young, Craig S. Cashwell, J. Scott Young

• Publisher: American Counseling Association
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781119684633
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Formazione professionale

"This third edition masterfully integrates the diverse manifestations of religion and spirituality in counseling and balances didactic content and demonstration of practice. Focused on holism, wellness, and intersectionality, the authors examine how religion and spirituality shape client experiences and also implore us to consider how we are impacted as counselors. I highly recommend this text for counselor training and as a valuable resource for counselors and supervisors."
— Hannah B. Bayne, PhD, University of Florida

"This must-read text is for anyone seeking to ethically and competently integrate issues of spirituality and religion into counselor training or professional practice. In addition to considering the role and function of spirituality in a client's life, the authors offer a wealth of knowledge and helpful applications grounded in empirical research that will not only strengthen holistic counseling, but also further your own journey toward authenticity and wellness."
— Abigail H. Conley, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University, Editor, Counseling and Values

"Since the first edition, this book has been a practice companion for professional counselors. Continuing this tradition, this new edition is beautifully accessible for new professionals and a valuable tool for more seasoned clinicians."
— Laura Marinn Pierce, PhD, Winthrop University

Guided by the framework of the ASERVIC Competencies for Addressing Spiritual and Religious Issues in Counseling, this comprehensive handbook for counselors-in-training and practitioners presents a variety of in-session spiritual interventions supported by scientific research. The authors take an inclusive approach to understanding client beliefs and formulate interventions that foster therapeutic growth in individuals from diverse backgrounds. Detailed case studies and questions for reflection throughout the text are appropriate for individual or group discussions. New chapters on ethics, forgiveness, and the integration of sacred texts in session reflect the evolving understanding of integrating spirituality and religion in the counseling process.

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Part I
Spirituality in Counseling

Chapter 1
Integrating Spirituality and Religion Into Counseling: An Introduction

J. Scott Young and Craig S. Cashwell

There is one river of Truth
which receives tributaries from every side.

—Clement of Alexandria

• • •

In this chapter, we set the stage for a more in-depth exploration of spirituality, religion, and counseling. We begin by framing the inclusion of spirituality and religion in counseling through a discussion of proficient practice as set forth in a set of research-based competencies for appropriately addressing spirituality and religion within counseling. Next, we define core concepts related to this domain (i.e., spirituality, religion) and explore patterns of client relationship with these concepts. We also consider a set of underlying assumptions that support the counselor, directly addressing issues related to the spiritual and religious domain. Finally, we address a set of frequently asked questions that provide a starting point for the reader’s self-examination relative to the material explored in this book.

There is a story in the Zen tradition of a beautiful woman who wanted nothing more than to be accepted as a nun in a Buddhist temple so she might commit herself fully to her spiritual work. She visited a temple, asking to be accepted as a student, but she was rebuked by the abbot of the holy place because her great beauty would be a distraction to the monks and not conducive to the group’s well-being. She was turned away, and his pattern was repeated at every temple she visited; her beauty prevented her from being accepted as a student. After many such trials, the woman grew desperate. Determined to pursue what was most true for her, she heated a poker in a fire and repeatedly burned her face until her beauty was destroyed. She then returned to one of the abbots who had rejected her earlier and was welcomed warmly. The story concludes with her becoming an enlightened being.

Although the tale is graphic in its depiction of the lengths to which one woman was willing to go to fulfill her spiritual longing, it reveals something vital for counseling practice. Clients who seek counseling are, in effect, asking to be seen for their potential and to be taken seriously despite how they look on the surface, to be welcomed, as it were, into a place where transformation can occur. It is tempting to see only the superficial aspects of a counselee, such as gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, and diagnosis. When this occurs, counselors miss the “heart” and “soul” of that person—the spiritual core that waits behind the mask or persona. When a person is reduced to symptoms, however, the most one can hope is for that client to achieve symptom reduction. A more encompassing perspective is that each person in his or her own way is broken, incomplete, and in need of healing. In fact, the words healing, whole, and holy all derive from the same root, suggesting that all have the potential to heal their brokenness, become less fragmented and, in so doing, grow to be more holy.

Maslow (1968) suggested that each person carries a central truth that he or she can actualize. This view is the cornerstone of the developmental perspective of the counseling profession. Some clients’ central truth is grounded in a religious perspective; for all clients, it is potentially a spiritual one. The job of the counselor is to see beyond the superficial to the client’s inner potential that sits by the fire, with a heated poker in hand, the unenlightened being capable of becoming her or his true self. Whether one labels this transcendent self-actualization, enlightenment, Nirvana, Christ consciousness, mindfulness, or myriad other terms used in various wisdom traditions, the path remains the same. Healing is the goal—becoming more whole and, therefore, becoming more holy. Supporting this development is certainly within the purview of the professional counselor.

But how do you as a counselor do this? How do you see the essential reality of clients who come to you with lives overshadowed by various miseries, fueled by poor choices, by victimization, by desperate circumstances, and by years of behavioral patterns that have reinforced their pain? The real work for counselors is to fully recognize that even though most clients do not arrive at their office spiritually enlightened, psychospiritual transformation is available to everyone. As Bill W., the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), once said, “Alcoholics either find a spiritual way to live, or we die.” Applied to people in need of transformation, this statement can be reframed as “people either find a spiritual way to live, or they remain incomplete and dissatisfied.” This spiritual way, simply stated, involves developing a lens for seeing the sacred in one’s circumstances. For many, this involves a deity; for some, it does not. In fact, as discussed in this text, there are many sacred paths or, as noted in the quote that opens this chapter, many tributaries that flow into the river of Truth.

Although it may be a provocative idea, evidence is mounting that we are closest to our fullest potential when we find a spiritual way to live. Living a spiritual life necessarily involves transforming suffering into compassion, both for oneself and for others. This sentiment is captured in the following story told by Martin Buber:

A man who was afflicted with a terrible disease complained to Rabbi Israel that his suffering interfered with his learning and praying. The rabbi put his hand on his shoulder and said: “How do you know, friend, what is more pleasing to God, your studying or your suffering?” (as cited in Vardey, 1995, p. 351)

Within the counseling context, one can extrapolate from this tale that the transformation of a client’s pain into self-compassion and empathy for others is central to the spiritual perspective of counseling. As Viktor Frankl said, “The salvation of man is through love, and in love” (as cited in Vardey, 1995, p. 337). That is, people are their best selves when they transform their suffering into love for others and themselves.

Why a New Edition?

Since publication of the second edition of this book in 2011, several advances have been made relative to what competent practice entails when addressing religious and spiritual issues in counseling. Most notable is the research conducted by Linda Robertson (2010) that provided the first factor-analytic investigation of the set of competencies originally proposed at the Summit on Spirituality in the mid-1990s. Although Robertson’s work largely supported the importance of the original competencies, her efforts provided clear empirical support for six major factors, or clusters of counseling skills, within the overall set of competencies: (a) Culture and Worldview, (b) Counselor Self-Awareness, (c) Human and Spiritual Development, (d) Communication, (e) Assessment, and (f) Diagnosis and Treatment. A second summit working group convened in the summer of 2008 and again in the spring of 2009. Using the Robertson findings as a starting point, this working group emended the language of the competencies to their current form, resulting in 14 skill-based competencies clustered around six overarching factors. The revised competencies (Cashwell & Watts, 2010) provide increased detail on, clarity of, and direction toward proficient competency and have been approved and copyrighted by the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC), a division of the American Counseling Association. Additional details on the competencies are provided in Chapter 3.

As the scientific evidence supporting the validity of these competencies accumulates, the value of in-depth discussions related to the application of this material increases. To this end, a new edition of this book was considered timely, addressing the ongoing requests by both practicing counselors and counselors-in-training for greater clarity on how to assess and intervene in the religious and spiritual domain of a client’s life in a manner that is both clinically successful and ethically sound. Based on feedback we have received over the years, this edition also includes new chapters on ethics, forgiveness, and integrating sacred text. Practitioners have a real need to consider the “if-when-how” questions of integrating spirituality and religion into the counseling process. Moreover, the ongoing course of ethical practice related to this domain (spirituality/religion), which is in some ways outside the traditional scope of counseling practice, warrants careful consideration. Subsequently, this third edition includes numerous case examples and extensive discussion of counseling techniques.

Why Is Understanding Religion and Spirituality Consequential for Counseling Practice?

One obvious question you might have is whether the topics of religion and spirituality are of real clinical importance for the modern practicing counselor. Is this not an age of science and reason in which the role of helpers is to aid clients in moving beyond irrationality that keeps them trapped in self-made misery? The question of why contemporary counselors ought to be concerned about the role that spirituality and religion play in the unfolding of the counseling process is indeed an appropriate and, perhaps, a telling one.

Religion has long been a highly controversial topic in the mental health disciplines. Over the past 100 years, as the modern treatment of mental distress has evolved, religion has held a dubious place in the eyes of many luminaries in the field. Sigmund Freud was well known to be blatantly atheistic in his thinking, characterizing religious beliefs as a system of wishful illusions, a disavowal of reality, and a state of hallucinatory confusion (Freud, 1928/1989b). Likewise, Freud (1930/1989a) characterized mystical experiences as infantile helplessness and a regression to primary narcissism. Similarly, B. F. Skinner (1962) portrayed religious belief as explanatory fiction and religious behavior as superstitious behavior perpetuated by an intermittent reinforcement schedule. More recently, Albert Ellis was a firm atheist and advocated thoughtful atheism as the most emotionally healthy approach to life. Early in his career, Ellis was ardently antireligious. In later years, however, Ellis toned down his rhetoric, acknowledging research evidence that a belief in a loving God can be psychologically healthy (Ellis, 2000) and writing about the use of rational emotive behavior therapy with devoutly religious clients (Nielson, Johnson, & E...