Is a religious gay person an oxymoron? It appears possible, given that the research on religion and spirituality among sexual minority individuals is so limited. While books written on the intersection of religion and psychotherapy may include a chapter addressing the religious and spiritual lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals, there are no critical texts focusing solely on this issue. In this paper, we review some of the most recent research on homosexuality, religion, and spirituality, and discuss how LGB individuals may integrate these two identities. A case presentation is offered and implications for pastoral counselors and methods of supporting the integration of the spiritual/religious identity in tandem with a LGB identity are also discussed.
Many African American women begin counseling stigmatized by race and gender and may be targets of additional discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, class, age, and other social variables. In this article, the authors discuss “womanist” spirituality as a means for African American women to cope with racism, sexism, and multiple social stigmas.
I want to beg you as much as I can ... to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves.... Do not now seek answers which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.-Rainer Maria RilkeIn a multicultural and pluralistic world, therapists have the opportunity to work with clients from myriad backgrounds. Many of those clients have significant spiritual or religious components in their self-understanding and expect therapists to respect, if not directly address, those concems. Therapists, too, bring their cultural perspectives and personal history of spirituality and religion into the therapeutic setting. The more they are aware of their stance vis-a-vis spirituality and religion, including both positive and negative associations, the better prepared therapists wiU be in serving clients for whom these issues are paramount. The purpose of this chapter is to help therapists to discover the impediments to working with clients' spiritual and religious issues and to become aware of their worldviews and their values toward and experiences of spirituality and religion.
COMMON IMPEDIMENTS TO WORKING WITH CLIENTS' SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS ISSUESEven after acknowledging one's spiritual and religious heritage and how it impinges on present professional practice, therapists may encounter potential barriers to working effectively with clients for whom spirituality 53
In this article, the authors consider strategies for counseling female Muslim clients. First, they review general beliefs and practices of Muslims in the United States. Through the use of a case study, they illustrate a collaborative method of counseling Muslim women that is based on a trusting client-counselor relationship.
The death of a loved one has serious implications for adolescent growth and development. The authors review relevant research on the grief process and spirituality in adolescence, and they give a rationale for integrating spirituality into adolescent grief work. By way of a case illustration, they draw implications for counselors’ use of spirituality in addressing adolescent grief.
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