Student Spirituality and School Counseling: Issues, Opportunities, and Challenges

Abstract

In this article, the professional school counseling community is introduced to the value of addressing student spirituality as a way to foster personal and social growth. Prior to discussing the robust theoretical and research foundation for this endeavor, 3 workable definitional strands of spirituality are summarized and applied to educational settings. Strategies for transitioning from the conceptual to school practice are explored, including the key issues related to legal and ethical practice and school counselor education and training. Finally, recommendations for future school counseling research in this area are briefly examined.

Healing after traumatic events: Aligning interventions with cultural background and religious and spiritual beliefs

“…Tying into existing family resources, R/S supports serve as an anchor of hope and reassurance for children (Bryant-Davis et al, 2012;Jerome, 2011;Walker & Hathaway, 2013). Because religiosity and spirituality are components of diversity (Athey & Moody-Williams, 2003;Sink & Richmond, 2004;Vieten et al, 2013Vieten et al, , 2016Watts, 2001) SBMHPs must encourage conversations with students in ways that are sensitive to R/S beliefs (Richards, Bartz, & O'Grady, 2009;Sink, 2004). In group settings-particularly in school settings-SBMHPs must foster an environment that is sensitive to diversity.…”

Examining Spirituality and Sense of Calling in Counseling Students

“…T he counseling profession has identified spirituality as a core component of human development (Cashwell, Glosoff, & Hammond, ; Myers & Williard, ) and recognized its impact on assessment, intervention, and cultural and ethical issues (Sink & Devlin, ). The American Counseling Association (ACA) addresses spirituality in the ACA Code of Ethics (ACA, ) by stressing that clinicians facilitate the spiritual needs of clients (Standard A.9.a.)…”

“…Extensive counseling literature exists examining spirituality, and researchers have continued to emphasize that spirituality and religion are increasingly important areas of research within the helping professions and counseling specifically (see Hall, Dixon, & Mauzey, ; W. E. Miller & Thoresen, ; Nelson, Kirk, Ane, & Serres, ; Prest, Russel, & D'Souza, ; Sink & Devlin, ). Although there are many different areas of focus within the spirituality literature, the following areas are of concern to the present study: (a) spirituality and counselor training; (b) perspectives of counselors‐in‐training on spirituality in their own lives; and (c) a sense of calling to a vocation, spirituality and work, and the link between calling to a career and spirituality.…”

Psychometric Analysis of the Life Perspectives Inventory and Implications for Assessing Characteristics of Adolescent Spirituality

“…To address the limitations of well-established developmental theories when they are applied to spirituality, some counseling scholars have adopted a more broad-based perspective. For example, Mickel and Liddie (1998), working from a family therapy orientation, and Sink and Devlin (2011), operating from a school-based counseling perspective, proposed that student spirituality is facilitated principally through the social and communal contexts in which the individual functions. Sink and his colleagues (Sink & Cleveland, 2012;Sink & Devlin, 2011;Sink & Hyun, 2012;Seo, Sink, & Cho, 2011) adapted principles from psychological constructivism (Raskin, 2002) as a working conceptual framework for their childhood and adolescent spirituality research as well as for the development of the LPI discussed later.…”

“…For example, Mickel and Liddie (1998), working from a family therapy orientation, and Sink and Devlin (2011), operating from a school-based counseling perspective, proposed that student spirituality is facilitated principally through the social and communal contexts in which the individual functions. Sink and his colleagues (Sink & Cleveland, 2012;Sink & Devlin, 2011;Sink & Hyun, 2012;Seo, Sink, & Cho, 2011) adapted principles from psychological constructivism (Raskin, 2002) as a working conceptual framework for their childhood and adolescent spirituality research as well as for the development of the LPI discussed later. By combining Vygotsky's (1994) sociocultural and Lerner's (Lerner & Overton, 2008) contextual perspectives with well-established developmental theories (Erikson & Erikson, 1997;Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977;Piaget & Inhelder, 2000), spiritual development in children and youth can be viewed as one pathway situated among a complex network of intersecting developmental pathways (e.g., cognition, psychosocial, neurological; see Lerner, Alberts, Anderson, &Dowling, 2006, andMancini &Roberto, 2009, for details).…”