Counseling Students' Perceptions of Religious/Spiritual Counseling Training: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Students' perceptions of their training to incorporate religious and spiritual issues into counseling sessions have received little attention in the counselor education literature. This descriptive phenomenological qualitative study provided counseling students with the opportunity to share their perceptions of their preparation to incorporate religious and spiritual issues into counseling.

Spirituality and Religion: The Ninth CACREP Core Curriculum Area

“…Recent research has shown that counselors do not feel prepared to address spiritual or religious issues (J. R. Adams, ; Henriksen et al, ). Studies have identified an array of barriers to the incorporation of spirituality and religion into counselor education.…”

“…Yocum, Silvey, Milacci, and Garzon () found that preservice school counselors expressed a desire to address the spiritual and religious needs of the students they would counsel in the future. Counseling students in Henriksen et al's () study expressed interest in academic training that included supervision by faculty who were competently trained in working with religious and spiritual issues. Not providing this specific training is a disservice to clients, because by disregarding religious and spiritual issues, counselors are ignoring significant aspects of wellness and the human condition (C. M. Adams et al, ).…”

“…Rose et al (2001) added, Clearly, many clients, especially the highly spiritual, believe that religious and spiritual issues not only are acceptable and preferable for discussion in therapy but also are important therapeutic factors, central to the formation of worldview and personality and impacting human behavior. (p. 69) Recent research has shown that counselors do not feel prepared to address spiritual or religious issues (J. R. Adams, 2012;Henriksen et al, 2015). Studies have identified an array of barriers to the incorporation of spirituality and religion into counselor education.…”

“…Studies have identified an array of barriers to the incorporation of spirituality and religion into counselor education. Barriers identified include a lack of competency or a lack of understanding regarding the importance of spirituality and religion in the therapeutic process (C. M. Adams et al, 2015;Hage, Hopson, Siegel, Payton, & DeFanti, 2006), concern regarding the separation of church and state or the taboo nature of such a sensitive aspect of human nature (Kelly, 1994;Kimbel & Schellenberg, 2013), and a lack of preparation (Hagedorn & Gutierrez, 2009;Henriksen et al, 2015;Kimbel & Schellenberg, 2013). Because of these barriers, the needs of the client may not be sufficiently served, and counselors are left to find additional training beyond their master's degrees to fully and adequately meet client needs (Cashwell & Young, 2004;Dobmeier & Reiner, 2012;Henriksen et al, 2015;Kimbel & Schellenberg, 2013;Reiner & Dobmeier, 2014).…”

The Effects of Empathy on Disparagement Humor

“…Less research has looked at the stereotypes and expectations people hold about spiritual individuals. Some have looked at beliefs about spirituality in relation to something else such as how spirituality can play a role in counseling (Cornish, Wade, & Post 2012;Henriksen, Polonyi, Bornsheuer-Boswell, Greger, & Watts, 2015). Overall, most of the research on stereotypes has focused on who is viewed favorably and who is viewed unfavorably.…”