The role of religion/spirituality (R/S) in the lives of incarcerated individuals is complex. Inmates may draw on R/S as a coping strategy, as a way to place responsibility, or as an approach to creating meaning. The importance of using R/S as a coping strategy can be amplified in the context of a correctional setting. While some attention has focused on the effectiveness of faith-based services in jails and prisons, very little emphasis has been placed on using those constructs in psychotherapy within the correctional context. Accordingly, this article explores the application of the multicultural orientation framework—including the important tenets of therapists’ cultural humility, cultural comfort, and cultural opportunities—into psychotherapy practices with incarcerated individuals. In doing so, we will focus on how cultural humility can assist in addressing intersecting identities, including spirituality, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender identity to enhance the process and outcome of therapy. We will discuss how cultural humility can be effectively used to address common challenges for therapists when working with R/S issues in corrections and conclude with two case studies to illustrate the application.

C orrectional facilities are one of the largest mental health providers in the United States; as such, efforts are being made to increase the effectiveness of services, especially psychotherapy (Munetz et al., 2001;Steadman et al., 2009). Individuals with mental illness are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system (Munetz et al., 2001;Steadman et al., 2009). Despite this disparity, there is scant empirical evidence about the efficacy of therapeutic services in detention centers. Morgan et al. (2012) conducted a meta-analysis with 26 studies on treatments, which included psychotherapy but was not exclusive to this modality, in detention centers. The meta-analysis included 1,649 clients (sample sizes ranged from 5 to 150). Although the overall treatment effects for detention center therapy studies were positive for mental health symptoms (d = 0.87) and criminality outcomes (d = 0.42), there was wide variation in the effect sizes of outcomes (d = −1.57 to 2.98). Sufficient data were not available to test moderators or process variables, leaving many unanswered questions about the change mechanisms. However, we suspect that religious and/or spiritual identity and attention to those beliefs and values could be important in the healing process during detention.Religion or spirituality (R/S) is commonplace within correctional settings. R/S beliefs can create a way of making meaning in the lives of individuals who are incarcerated and may experience uncertainty and existential crises (Eytan, 2011). While data on religiosity in treatment are scarce, we can draw indirect evidence for the importance of spiritual themes in this setting from a Pew

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