How Christian Spiritual and Religious Beliefs Help and Hinder Counselors' Empathy Toward Clients

Abstract

The critical incident technique was used to examine how counselors' religion and spirituality help and hinder counselor empathy toward clients. Twelve counselors holding Christian beliefs identified 242 helping and 25 hindering incidents that formed 14 helping and 3 hindering categories. Categories reflected counselors relying on a natural connection to their spirituality, drawing from empathic roots in their religion or spiritual experience, and using commonalities shared with clients as a means of empathizing. Implications for research, counselor education, and counseling practice are discussed.T he aim of this study was to examine counselor empathy in depth as it relates to and is influenced by counselor spirituality. Empathy has been found to be the key component of the therapeutic alliance, outweighing techniques in its positive relationship to outcome (Goldfried, Greenberg, & Marmar, 1990). A meta-analysis by Bohart, Elliott, Greenberg, and Watson (2002) on empathy found its place under "effective elements" in Norcross's (2002) Psychotherapy Relationships That Work. These authors argued that "the time is ripe for the re-examination and rehabilitation of therapist empathy as a key change process in psychotherapy" (Bohart et al., 2002, p. 89).More generally, the quality of the connection between counselor and client has repeatedly been demonstrated as the most consistent element of successful counseling (e.g., Coale, 1998;Fiedler, 1950Fiedler, , 1951Mitchell, Bozarth, & Krauft, 1977;Patterson, 1984;Strupp, 1978; for reviews of the research, see Horvath & Bedi, 2002;Waddington, 2002). Bozarth (2002) conducted a comprehensive review of the research literature and found that the relationship variables most frequently related to therapeutic effectiveness were the core conditions identified by Rogers (1957), namely, empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard. For the purpose of this study, empathy was defined as a quality that requires the laying aside of one's views and values to enter the other's world without prejudice or judgment (Rogers, 1975). The recipient of empathy feels that "someone values him [or her], cares, [and] accepts the person that he [or she] is" (Rogers, 1975, p. 7).

Religious identity in the workplace: A systematic review, research agenda, and practical implications

“…Enhancement is reflected in our findings that a religious identity can enable difficult occupational decisions when occupational and religious norms, values, and behaviors are aligned (e.g., Morrison & Borgen, ; Pelechova et al, ; Wenger & Carmel, ). As such, fit between counselors' religious and occupational identities is shown to increase empathy toward clients (Morrison & Borgen, ) and enhance the supportive fashion in which physicians relate to the patients at end of life (Seale, ), or help patients regarding religious issues (Lucchetti et al, ). Religion was found to influence work as a mental health professional when religious values map onto occupational values; likewise, a mismatch could lead to conflict with patients or clients (Pelechova et al, ).…”

“…Thus, the specific religion that individuals espouse can affect their ability and motivation to enact it at work (Al‐Yousefi, ; Flanigan, ; Kutcher, Bragger, Rodriguez‐Srednicki, & Masco, ). The emphasis on “tikkun olam” (healing or repairing the world) in Judaism (Schwarz, ) could motivate a Jew to engage in work that advances social justice or pursue opportunities for such action in the workplace, while an emphasis on “love one another” could motivate a Christian to display substantial empathy in counseling clients and patients (Morrison & Borgen, ). Similarly, the attitude of some conservative Christians toward sexual minorities may create adverse reactions to gay and lesbian clients (Harris & Yancey, ).…”

“…Several studies in allied clinical professions (e.g., Carlisle, ; Morrison & Borgen, ; Musa, ) focus on how religious beliefs (e.g., specific identity content) affect the individual's occupational practice. Morrison and Borgen () asked counselors to recall incidents where their religion had helped or hindered their empathy with clients. These counselors reported high congruence as they recalled how their beliefs triggered compassion and mercy.…”

“…] Religious identity is tied to an array of important workplace outcomes. It can inform and enhance an individual's workplace decisions and contributions when there is a clear connection between occupational and religious values and behaviors (e.g., Morrison & Borgen, 2010). On the other hand, tensions between religious and work identities can adversely affect employee well-being and other individual outcomes (Ghumman, Ryan, Barclay, & Markel, 2013).…”

A Counselor Education Case Study: The Counselor Values‐Based Conflict Model in Action

“… Review applicable codes of ethics. Engage in supervision. Seek further training to avoid imposing values and improve competency in working with the LGBT population. Use ethical bracketing by setting aside biases so they no longer affect the therapeutic relationship. Focus on religious values of compassion, mercy, and acceptance (Morrison & Borgen, ).…”