This book was written to assist anyone working in the helping professions. Its easy-to-use format provides the important foundational information about a client's religious/spiritual background, and has already helped numerous professionals toward their goal of multicultural competency. Reaching Multicultural competency can be an ominous on-going task for a helping professional. The author realized that even though she had focused her studies on multicultural and religious/spiritual diversity, she needed a way to remember specific details. Thus, she conceived of this book as a way to assist herself and others who work with multicultural clients. This book offers an easily accessible, quickly readable overview of the religious and spiritual views of many traditions. It provides a brief look at various categories especially important to a helping professional, including: view of a deity, marriage, birth control, male/female roles, therapy, medication, euthanasia, etc. It also contains a brief historical overview of each tradition.

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Spirituality lies at the heart of many clients' core values, and helps shape their perception of themselves and the world around them. In this book, two clinical psychologists provide a much-needed, research-based road map to help professionals appropriately address their clients’ spiritual or religious beliefs in treatment sessions. More and more, it has become essential for mental health professionals to understand and competently navigate clients' religious and spiritual beliefs in treatment. In Spiritual and Religious Competencies in Clinical Practice, you’ll find sixteen research-based guidelines and best practices to help you provide effective therapy while being conscious of your clients' unique spiritual or cultural background. With this professional resource as your guide, you will be prepared to: Take a spiritual and religious history when treating a client Attend to spiritual or religious topics in a clinical setting Hold clear ethical boundaries regarding your own religious or spiritual beliefs Know when and how to make referrals if topics emerge which are beyond the scope of your competence This book is a must-read for any mental health professional looking to develop spiritual, religious, and cultural competencies.

Spirituality and Religion in Counseling: Competency-Based Strategies for Ethical Practice provides mental health professionals and counselors in training with practical information for understanding and responding to clients’ needs using a spiritual and religious framework. This work conceptualizes spiritual and faith development in a holistic way, using case examples and practical interventions to consider common issues through a variety of approaches and frameworks. This is an essential compendium of actionable strategies and solutions for counselors looking to address clients’ complex spiritual and religious lives and foster meaningful faith development.

"This book, through its well-referenced and critically thoughtful approach, has made an invaluable contribution to the counseling literature. The extensive use of case studies and other applied materials makes it a valuable . . . reference." –Dr. Thomas J. Russo, Department of Counseling and School Psychology, University of Wisconsin, River Falls Incorporating Spirituality in Counseling and Psychotherapy presents an applied, insightful, and well-researched overview of the theory, practice, and ethics of integrating spiritual and religious themes and rituals into traditional therapy models. This well-conceived and immensely readable text examines common barriers and bridges between spirituality and mental health and documents the effectiveness of using spiritual practices and concepts in treatment. Most important, it encourages readers, through group activities and individual reflection, to consider their own spiritual belief systems and biases before engaging clients in therapy with a spiritual base. Key features of this book include: A synopsis of the major Eastern and Western religions and spiritual movements Theoretical, cultural, and ethical implications of incorporating spirituality in counseling Practical methods for helping clients develop a spiritual identity Proven techniques for incorporating spiritual practices in treatment Case studies providing complex, real-life scenarios, as well as questions and activities for individual and group discussion A practical book for students and a valuable resource for counselors, psychologists, social workers, addiction specialists, and other mental health professionals, Incorporating Spirituality in Counseling and Psychotherapy offers expert guidance on how to handle issues of spirituality in furthering the therapeutic process.

Spiritual Competence for Mental Health Professionals takes a holistic developmental approach toward spirituality in psychotherapy and counseling. This means that it considers an understanding of spiritual development to be as germane to mental health practice as an understanding of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development and that it views spirituality as shaped by developmental processes. Common spiritual issues at each stage in the individual and family life course are discussed. Tools for understanding one's own and one's clients' spiritual orientations and goals along with interventions and practices that foster spiritual growth in the client and the practitioner are presented. Reflection and discussion topics are provided at the end of each chapter. Ultimately, this book aims to help mental health practitioners, educators and students to change their approach from 'meet the client where they are spiritually' to 'meet the client where they are spiritually and help them develop further.'