Including spirituality in counsellor education: Issues for consideration, with illustrative reference to a New Zealand example

Abstract

The appropriate inclusion of spirituality in professional counsellor education programmes requires a careful definition of spirituality, and clarification of how it affects the programme's content. It also involves determination of how a programme may be structured to address various aspects of spirituality. This article highlights some of the issues involved in these tasks. SummarySpirituality in this article is defined as 'having to do with a person's innermost being and its connection with a universal force or divine presence which gives purpose and meaning to people's lives'. Issues of spirituality have been difficult for the profession of counselling to encompass because of their subjective and controversial nature. Nevertheless, the increasingly explicit recognition of spirituality in client adjustment and community functioning is forcing counsellors and counsellor educators to incorporate spirituality more fully into their work. This article explores the implications of that trend for counsellor education.In the first instance, it is argued that counsellors must recognise and address spirituality as it is embedded in issues that clients bring to counselling -to do with childrearing, intimate partnerships, vocational decision making, world views, and the experience of birth and death. Counsellor trainees must also be aware how their own values, world view and spirituality influence their reasons for being a counsellor, and the ways that they express their professional role. In training this must be addressed openly but delicately as part of the counsellor's overall professional development. At times this involves addressing deep personal issues or problems. To carry out these tasks adequately, counsellor educators and supervisors must model a genuine and inclusive acknowledgement of spirituality in their teaching, practice and personal behaviour. Systematic and explicit attention must be given to issues of spirituality at any point where they occur naturally -in client analysis, models and strategies of intervention, practical casework, student evaluation, and research projects.

Assessment of Spirituality in Counseling

“…They stated that it also means living out these values with discernible effects on oneself, others, and nature and on one's relationship with a higher power. Everts and Agee (1995) delineated several criteria that they considered important for practitioners and counselor educators to consider in the definition of spirituality. These criteria included accuracy, universality, affirmation, and a maximum potential for empirical validation.…”

Counseling Students' Perceptions of Religious/Spiritual Counseling Training: A Qualitative Study

“…The majority of clients who present themselves for counseling services have a religious foundation or spiritual beliefs (Cashwell & Young, ; Richards & Bergin, ), and these orientations should be included in the therapeutic assessment process (Everts & Agee, ; Johansen, ). Training counseling students to sensitively and respectfully discuss religious and spiritual beliefs with their clients can potentially provide counselors with a greater understanding of the meaning and importance attributed to clients' religious and spiritual views.…”

“…Therefore, assisting counseling students to understand, if not to use these methods, can influence psychological functioning in clients. Everts and Agee () suggested that for counselors to integrate these tasks effectively, counselor educators and supervisors must provide systematic attention, practice, and skills training toward student competencies and educational standards. They noted that students need to be trained to recognize their own beliefs and values related to spirituality and their role as a counselor.…”

“…Counselor educators can contribute to students' understanding of spirituality by acknowledging the role of spirituality and religion in their teaching. This can include discussions of spirituality and religion as they relate to conceptualizing the client, intervention strategies, casework skills, student evaluations, and the incorporation of these concepts within student research (Everts & Agee, ).…”