Preferences for Religious or Nonreligious Counseling and Psychotherapy

Abstract

Religious values in counseling and preferences for religious or secular counseling were investigated in two geographic areas. Over-all, 164 respondents distinguished religious from secular counseling and endorsed the importance of religious issues and the availability of counseling which can deal with religious issues. 51 preferred religious counseling. Small minorities expressed biases against religious or nonreligious counseling. Counseling preferences were based on the type of problem: religious counseling was preferred for marriage and family problems, and nonreligious counseling was preferred for mental illness and addiction, but religious and nonreligious counseling were equally chosen for depression. Frequency of church attendance was broadly related to preferences for religious and nonreligious counseling.

Mental Health Treatment Involvement and Religious Coping among African American, Hispanic, and White Veterans of the Wars of Iraq and Afghanistan

“…Veterans who said that they frequently pray or meditate or find comfort in their religion in response to stressful events were more likely to seek counseling from a religious figure. This finding is consistent with research that indicates the frequency of church attendance is positively related to a preference for religious counseling [22, 23]. Although African American racial status was associated with higher levels of religious coping, it was not significantly associated with greater likelihood of seeking religious counseling.…”

“…Moreover, research examining the use of mental health services often does not assess the use of counseling through a pastor or other religious figure, which is notable, given that 30 percent of Americans surveyed about counseling preferences said they would rather use religious than nonreligious counseling [22]. In particular, people who report high levels of religious coping or religiosity (e.g., frequent prayer) may be more likely to seek religious counseling and less likely to seek secular mental health treatment when dealing with psychological difficulties.…”

“…In particular, people who report high levels of religious coping or religiosity (e.g., frequent prayer) may be more likely to seek religious counseling and less likely to seek secular mental health treatment when dealing with psychological difficulties. For example, people who attend church more often are more likely to prefer therapeutic help from ministers or church staff rather than specialized mental health providers [22, 23]. …”

Religion and anxiety treatments in primary care patients

“…We hypothesized that physicians would be more likely to recommend religious resources when the patient is more religious, because prior evidence has shown that many religious patients prefer to seek help from within their religious community. (Belaire, Young, & Elder, 2005; Mitchel & Baker, 2000; Privette, Quackenbos, & Bundrick, 1994; Walker, Worthington, Gartner, Gorsuch, & Hanshew, 2011) We hypothesized that religious physicians would be more likely to promote religious resources regardless of the patient's religiosity, because religious physicians are likely to view religious resources favorably, and because previous research has shown religious physicians to be more directive in their approach with patients. (Lawrence & Curlin, 2009) We hypothesized that religious physicians would be less likely to refer to a psychologist or a psychiatrist, because our previous survey found that physicians were more likely to refer a grieving patient to clergy or to a religious counselor, and less likely to refer to a psychologist or psychiatrist.…”

The Intrinsic Spirituality Scale

“…Indeed, as a number of studies indicate, these variables have been associated with a wide number of salutary constructs (Ellison & Levin, 1998;Gartner, 1996;Koenig, McCullough & Larson, 2001;Pargament, 1997) and many clients desire to utilize these personal strengths to ameliorate problems (Bart, 1998;Privette, Quackenbos & Bundrick, 1994). Consequently, interest in researching spirituality and religion is growing among social workers (Canda & Furman, 1999).…”