Psychologists collaborating with clergy.

Abstract

If a patient adheres to religious values and practices, should the treating psychologist get input from a clergyperson? How frequent is clergy-psychologist collaboration? What obstacles impede such collaboration? An exploratory survey questionnaire was sent to 200 clergy, 200 psychologists interested in religious issues, and 200 psychologists selected without regard to religious interests or values. Four themes were assessed: types of collaborative activities, frequency of collaboration, obstacles to collaboration, and ways to enhance collaboration. Strategies for promoting clergypsychologist collaboration include challenging unidirectional referral assumptions, building trust through proximity and familiarity, and considering the importance of shared values and beliefs. When did you last reflect on the range of other professionals with whom you have regular contact? Who was on the list? Other psychologists, a couple psychiatrists, a few social workers, some teachers (if you work with children), and some primary care physicians-and maybe some nurses? Any clergy? The professional practice of psychology has changed over past decades, and the amount of professional collaboration has expanded (

Increasing the Cultural Proficiency of Clinical Managers

“…The length of this training was insufficient to provide this degree of expertise, but key principles that might facilitate this expertise were shared. Participants were encouraged to learn from the example of pastors and spiritual healers (McMinn, Chaddock, Edwards, Lim, & Campbell, 1998). Respect, collaboration, and incorporation were three key principles that were highlighted.…”

Conceptualizing mental health care utilization using the health belief model.

“…Some clients prefer to see clergy for mental health concerns. Some psychologists have formed relationships between religious organizations and mental health providers to foster collaboration and access to many care options for community members (McMinn, Chaddock, & Edwards, 1998). Benes, Walsh, McMinn, Dominguez, and Aikins (2000) describe a model of clergy-psychology collaboration.…”

The Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: Clergypersons and Mental Health Professionals

“…Lack of trust, communication and educational awareness were consistently found in the results of research studies when acknowledging the conflicts that arose throughout interprofessional collaboration. Additionally, the lack of teamwork skills led to the struggle of relinquishing leadership and power which was also a common finding in the results of various research studies (Abramson and Mizrahi 1996;Badger et al 1997;Kainz 2002;McMinn et al 2003McMinn et al , 1998Mizrahi and Abramson 2000;Williams et al 1978).…”