Confronting religious and spiritual discrimination in clinical and professional practice.

Abstract

Religious- and spiritual-based stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination are common phenomena both within and outside of the professional psychological and mental health care community. Since many psychologists and other mental health professionals are secular and personally unaffiliated with any religious tradition, they may be especially vulnerable to religious and spiritual implicit bias in their professional and personal lives. Our code of ethics highlights the need to be respectful, proactive, and informed about diversity, broadly defined, which includes religious and spiritual diversity. Being mindful of our implicit biases and prejudices and embracing cultural humility would serve us well, and most especially, better serve our profession and clientele. Mental health professionals need to be proactive in their efforts to ensure that they are informed and sensitive to discrimination and bias among their religious and spiritual clients and colleagues. This reflection asks us to be more vigilant in doing so.