Therapists‘ Use of Religious and Spiritual Interventions in Christian Counseling: A Preliminary Report

The most frequently identified factor associated with the use of religious and spiritual interventions in counseling has been therapists' personal religious attitudes or behaviors. Church attendance and personal religious behaviors, in particular, have been found to correlate with therapists' use of religious and spiritual interventions in counseling. The purpose of the present study was to relate several sets of variables (i.e., therapists' personal religiousness; professional beliefs, attitudes, and values regarding religion and spirituality in counseling; graduate training of therapists; and therapists' personal experiences with counseling) to their self-reported frequency of and competency in the use of religious and spiritual interventions in counseling. Use of religious and spiritual interventions correlated with personal religiousness and clinical training involving religious clients and religious and spiritual interventions. Course work involving either psychology or theology did not correlate with use of or self-reported competency in using religious and spiritual interventions. Self-reported competency was associated with personal religiousness; professional beliefs, attitudes, and values; personal experiences with counseling; and clinical training involving religious clients and religious and spiritual interventions. It is suggested that training programs incorporate clinical rotations, workshops, and supervision involving religious clients and religious and spiritual interventions to teach therapists to use religious and spiritual interventions in counseling.